Flying Home
by Picoroo
Summary: Even with the new Sanctuary, bird smuggling is still a ever-present threat to the Birds of Rio. When Nico is taken and flown halfway around the world, he must make the long and dangerous trek back home. Alone. *COMPLETE*
1. The Capture

**Title: Flying Home**

**Author: Angel015**

**Summary: Despite the new bird sanctuary, bird smuggling is still a ever present danger for the tropical birds of Rio. When the group's smallest gets taken and flown halfway around the world to London he finds he has to face the long and dangerous journey home alone. New friends and new enemies are met along the way, along with some really bad navigation, music, friendship and maybe even Romance, Nico is in for the biggest adventure of his life. **

**A/N: So, I rented out Rio the other night, watched it for the first time and instantly fell in love with it. Or more, with Nico and Pedro. They're brilliant. I love them both, though Nico is without a doubt my favourite. This idea hit me while watching it for the second time and I immediately began jotting down ideas and scenarios, researching the journey I want him to take, and typing up the first chapter in a day. This is my first time writing a proper epic journey-type story, so bear with me. There will be a fair few Original Characters, of course, so I've got a big project here, so if i don't update regularly, that's why, I have a job to maintain, so there will be times where I have a lot of overtime and no time to write, so just hang in there :) (Oh and those who are still reading my other stories, I'm afraid they'll be on hiatus for a while, hit a severe writer's block, and I have nothing more to go on for any more of them, I'm sorry and as soon as I get ideas for them I'll finish, I promise :))**

* * *

><p>The night was quiet, a rarity in Rio, party central and a hotspot for music and dancing night and day. But here we are, a quiet night in the centre of the city, the full glowing moon shining down, illuminating the streets where streetlamps couldn't, and stars twinkled happily in the sky. Few people were out, some staggering home after a party, some simply out and enjoying the quiet and the sounds of nature. The world famous carnival was over, after a week-long party, eventually trickling out, even the most hard-core party-goers settling down for a good long sleep after so much dancing.<p>

Deep in the jungle, things were heading along similar path, only the nocturnal out and about.

With the exception of two.

Although, some birds were beginning to wonder if the pair were in fact becoming nocturnal, considering how late, or maybe early, they were often out on the town.

"And this is why you shouldn't accept anything from those seagulls!" the smaller hissed, his tiny frame struggling to hold up his larger friend as they stumbled along the large branch to their shared hollow. How they managed to fly all the way from the club was a mystery with Pedro in such a intoxicated state. For once Nico was thankful this was the last time they were going out partying for a while. Most birds took some time after the festival to just kick back and relax, and Nico and Pedro were no exception. Both enjoyed to just sleep for almost a whole day, before going down to the beach or just hanging out and being lazy.

"But it tasted *hic* so go-od" the cardinal slurred, swaying a little as he walked, causing Nico to cry out and put all his strength into holding his friend up to prevent him from falling on top of him. The small bird silently cursed all types of alcohol, scowling slightly as his pushed Pedro back into a standing position and attempted to continue their journey. While the slightly older bird rarely got himself drunk, when he tended to go a little insane, the dancing got even more crazy than usual, and the redheaded bird would not shut up.

"Yes, but do you have to have so much?" Nico asked, already knowing he wasn't going to get a sensible answer out of his friend. He sighed, shaking his head and smiling ever so slightly. There was a very good reason he didn't drink himself. For starters his small size made him a bit of lightweight, but also because when there was alcohol around, and thankfully this was a rarity, Pedro was the first to attack it, and someone had to make sure he got home in one piece.

"I want to go to Ralfy's," Pedro stated, starting to turn. Nico quickly pushed him away, back towards the entrance of their hollow.

"No, you don't," the small bird told him, sighing, wondering why the hollow suddenly seemed so far away.

"Oh please?" Pedro whined, "it'll be awesome!"

"Only if you want to get your feathers plucked out one by one," Nico told him, his voice firm as he pushed a little harder in getting to their hollow. Pedro shut up quite quickly, staggering slightly, almost falling off the branch.

They finally reached the hole, Pedro practically falling through it and attempting to walk in a straight line towards his nest. He collapsed within a foot of the comfy bed, snoring loudly.

Nico sighed, crossing his arms with a small smile. He hopped back to the entrance, a bowl in his beak. He quickly swooped down to the lake below and scooped up some water, taking it back up and placing it gently close to his friend. He knew when the cardinal woke up he would be overly de-hydrated, and lazy, therefore whining for a drink. This just sped up the process and meant Nico didn't have to get out of his own comfy bed the next day.

Hopping over to his own nest, he settled down, taking his bottle cap off and placing it nearby. He yawned widely, curling up and drifting off to blissful sleep.

* * *

><p>When he cracked his eyes open to glaring sunlight, the first thing Pedro thought, after turning away from the deadly light, was that his head hurt and he desperately needed a drink. He slowly and carefully pushed himself up and looked over to his friends nest, where the canary was sleeping on his back, one wing over his stomach, with the other stretched out over the edge of the bed.<p>

"Ni-co," Pedro called, dragging out the name. The small bird's foot twitched, and he rolled onto his side, away from the cardinal.

"By the nest," he mumbled sleepily, curling up.

Pedro looked over to his messy pile of leaves and noticed the bowl of water. "Ah, thanks man," he grinned, grabbing the bowl and downing it in one shot. Nico just grumbled, not being particularly happy about being woken up before he wanted to be, and curled up tighter, burying his head in his wings. The small bird was always grumpy in the mornings, more so when he had to drag his friends drunk butt home the night before.

It didn't take long before Pedro was up and bouncing off the walls, wanting to go down to the beach. Nico just patiently ignored it, not wanting to leave the comfort and security of his nest.

"Come on!" Pedro whined, poking the small ball of yellow feathers. "Let's go down to the beach!"

"You go down to the beach," Nico muttered, muffled by his wings, "and I'll see you there in say, six hours?"

It was just then that Blu appeared at the entrance to their home.

"Hey guy's we're just taking the kids to the beach, want to join us?" he asked, smiling. The smile quickly slipped off his face to be replaced with one of confusion as he took in the sight of the tiny ball of yellow, which had shrunk even more as Nico curled in tighter, and a cardinal poking it.

"See, they want to go to the beach," Pedro whined at the ball of feathers.

"So go with them," Nico mumbled, and the other two birds heard a loud yawn from the depths of feathers.

"Aww, won't you come too?" Pedro asked, poking his friend again.

"You go, give me another hours sleep or so and I'll see you in a bit okay?" Nico told him, poking one tired eye out from between his feathers.

Pedro crossed his wings, sighing deeply. "Fine, I'll see you in a bit," he said, flying over to Blu, who was waiting patiently by the entrance, "let's go."

And with that the pair flew off, leaving Nico in silence to drift back off to sleep. However, it took a few moments for the small bird to realize that simply wasn't going to happen. He was too awake now, despite still feeling sleepy he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep again. Uncurling from his tight ball and sitting up, Nico looked around the now bright hollow, rubbing his right eye and yawning again, it was probably early afternoon judging by the amount of light being filtered into the small hollow. He pushed himself into a standing position, wings folded by his side.

Not the best start to the day.

Sighing, he spread his wings and headed to their usual spot on the beach, a feeling akin to dread settling in his stomach.

* * *

><p>"I see Nico's not a morning person then," Blu commented as he, the rest of his family and Pedro flew towards the beach. The sun was shining down hot above them and the city was alive and bustling below.<p>

"Nope," Pedro said, smirking somewhat, "never has been unless he gets a really good night's sleep, and don't try to wake him, that bottle cap of his hurts when it's smacked into your face," he snickered, thinking back to first time he attempted to wake the sleeping canary. It hadn't ended well.

Jewel chuckled from somewhere behind them, silently listening in.

They soon reached their favourite spot and settled down for the afternoon, the three kids high-tailing it for the water, Pedro following not long after, flying up above the water then dropping, curling into a ball.

"CANONBAAALLLL!"

The splash pushed the three mini macaws almost back to the shore, pushing them under the water for a few moments. Three heads popped back up, cheering.

"Woo! Do that again Uncle Pedro!" Alicia called out, her two brothers whooping behind her as the cardinal came up for air, grinning wide. He splashed the three chicks as hard as he could, and they attempted to splash him back, though against the mini tidal waves heading their way their little splashes weren't doing much damage.

They spent almost three hours playing before Pedro began to get a little twitchy at the lack of Nico.

"I should get back, make sure he's okay," he muttered, staring in the direction of home, rubbing his wings together nervously, "he always keeps to his promises, and he promised an hour, so where is he?" he muttered to himself, pacing a little.

Blu chuckled a little, "and you say I worry too much," he murmured to Jewel, who simply smiled, before fluttering over to the pacing bird and placing a wing on his shoulder.

"He's fine Pedro," she said, her voice taking on a motherly tone, "probably just slept longer than he expected, for all we know he could be on his way here now, kicking himself for missing all the fun," she smiled gently, "but if you're really worried we can all head back now, it's time to take the kids home anyway."

"Okay," Pedro said, nodding.

* * *

><p><strong>(three hours previously)<strong>

"_Wasn't really thinking, wasn't looking, wasn't searching for an answer,_" a soft voice carried through the trees as the small canary attached to it sailed through, smiling a little at the rushing feeling he always got while flying, no matter how many times he'd done it, "_in the moonlight, when I saw your face."_

As he took a break from singing he started to notice how eerily quiet the whole forest seemed to be. While it was true most birds spent their days off down at the beach or downtown, it was never this quiet, there was always a few birds hanging around, singing, chatting, sleeping. But it was absolutely silent save the breeze moving the trees.

He landed on a branch to have a better look around, the feeling of dread once again settling like a rock at the bottom of his stomach.

What was going-

He squawked as a brown cloth bag was suddenly thrown over him, shrouding his world into darkness. He struggled, attempting to pull at the bag and rip it, but it was too thick for his small form and minimal strength.

"That's the last one Carlos," he heard a human voice from close by, most likely the one holding the bag, "he's certainly energetic," the man commented, referring to the small bird's struggles to get free.

Nico slumped, his energy leaving him, and he lay at the bottom of the bag, chest heaving and eyes wide, trying to search for a way out, failing miserably. There was no way out, he was stuck, bird-napped by smugglers. He had gotten out of this before, but it was Blu who got them out, and Nico had no ideas on how to get himself out of this one.

He could feel the bag moving as the human moved through the trees, and he could hear a car engine starting up somewhere nearby.

Suddenly, the bag was tipped upside down, and he was unceremoniously dumped into a cage, the door slammed shut and locked before he could even think about making a break for it. He gripped the bars, praying to whatever higher power was up there that Pedro or one of the others would notice he was missing before the smugglers got him too far away. He looked around, noticing a few familiar faces, but no one he knew too well. Rafael and his family had escaped, as had Blu, Jewel and their kids, and he would've known if Pedro were here, he'd be shouting and squawking the place down by this point. Nico couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at this. At least they were safe.

He didn't know how long they drove for, it could have been several hours, or a few minutes, the small canary wasn't really paying attention, he was too busy concentrating on how to get out. The lock wasn't a simple pull-across bar, it was a padlock, and facing away from him, thus ruining his chances at picking it. The bars were criss-crossed and the gaps too small for him to squeeze through, he could barely fit a few feathers through. After a while, he sat back in the corner, slumped in defeat. He was well and truly screwed unless someone came for him.

Eventually the van stopped, and the back was thrown open, sunlight streaming in. Nico's cage was picked up and roughly thrown to the ground, slamming against the concrete with such a force Nico was thrown halfway across it. Pushing himself up and looking around, he noticed where he was. The old airport runway. He groaned, knowing exactly what was about to happen. He looked up, soaking in what he knew was going to be his last memory of Rio de Janeiro, before being thrown onto a plane and flown off to goodness knows where.

He blinked, second guessing himself as a familiar bird flew overhead.

"Pedro!" The name was out of his beak before he could stop himself, and he saw the bird stop, hovering in the air, look around, then down, eyes widening in horror.

* * *

><p>Pedro, still ever so slightly worried for his friend, though not as much as before, decided to take the shortcut home, over the old runway and through the forest that way round. It was unconventional, not many birds lived round there, and the ones that did were shady. But he convinced himself that so long as he stayed above the trees until he got to the more populated areas it would be okay.<p>

It was when he was above the runway that he heard someone call his name. He hovered, looking around, not seeing anything. He almost shook it off as his imagination, but something caused him to look down. And what he saw filled him with horror.

Nico was staring up at him, expression terrified through the bars of a cage, more and more cages being stacked around him.

Smugglers.

As fast as he could, he shot down to his friend, landing next to the cage and gripping the bars tightly, shaking them hard. They wouldn't budge.

"Nico!" he cried, looking into the canary's large brown eyes. "Don't worry buddy, I'm gonna get you outta here!" he said, looking for a way to open the cage.

"You think I haven't already tried that?" Nico asked, rolling his eyes and trying to hide his fear, "it's hopeless Pedro, they've made these things more sturdy since last time, there's no way out."

"No!" Pedro shouted, looking even more scared than Nico, who was beginning to accept what was happening to him. "No, you're going to get out of there, and...and..." he broke off, choking up ever so slightly.

"And we'll go to the beach," Nico finished for him, his voice soft and wavering slightly, "we'll soak Blu, play with the kids, bury someone in the sand and go get some ice-cream, okay?" he smiled gently, lower beak trembling slightly, they were beginning to load the cages onto the plane, "then we'll rock out at the Alley and party all night long." He grinned, shaking his tail feathers some, trying to get his friend to crack a smile, "As soon as I get back okay? I won't be long, I promise." He pushed his wing feathers through the bars, touching his friends wing gently.

It started to work, Pedro couldn't help but smile a little at what the smaller was saying, but it didn't last for long, Nico's small cage was snatched up.

"Go!" Nico hissed to Pedro, who was knocked over in shock.

Seeing his best friend and long-time partner locked up and being taken away made something snap inside the Cardinal, and his face steeled, shooting up and back down, directly at the guy holding Nico. He bit him clear on the shoulder, causing him to lose grip on the cage, clattering to the ground. Pedro quickly made sure Nico was okay before aiming again, pecking at the man again and again, before someone suddenly grabbed him from behind, clamping down on his wings. Large chubby fingers were closed around his body, which he quickly bit, even drawing blood, but with no reaction. It was like the man couldn't feel anything. The redhead cried in frustration as Nico's cage was once again picked up and taken into the plane, the last glimpse of his best friend, his _brother_, before the hatch shut.

"Let that one go, we have no need for the aggressive ones," one human said, and just as the plane started to move he was thrown violently in the opposite direction, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. He twisted in mid-air seeing the large man running to the open door and climbing in as the plane began to speed up, pulling up and away only moments later. With a sudden burst of adrenaline Pedro flew as fast as he could after it, not knowing what he could possibly do, but knowing it was all he could do. He prayed a repeat of last time would happen, that one bird would get out, release the others and open the hatch, freeing them all.

But it was not to be. He followed the plane for about ten minutes before his energy began to run out of him, his adrenaline rush fading quickly and his three hours playing with the chicks hitting him fast. He slowed, realising it was hopeless. His brother was gone, flown goodness knows where around the world, all alone. Nico was strong, he knew that, but he was still a tiny canary, facing the big wide world on his own. Tears began to prick at his eyes, and he struggled to keep himself up.

With one last longing look at the plane flying away towards the horizon, Pedro turned and headed back towards the jungle. Rafael would know what to do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So? What did you think? Any good? Never want to see it again? Any and all opinions are welcomed. I hope you enjoyed :)**


	2. The Escape Plan

Curling up in one corner of the cage, Nico shivered, closing his eyes tight, trying to drown out the nightmare happening around him.

Smugglers? Most of the birds thought they were safe within the barriers of the Sanctuary, camera's had been set up to keep watch on the safety and health of the birds living within, and yet still the smugglers had been able to get in and capture hundreds of birds without being caught. The canary shivered again, the temperature steadily dropping little by little by the minute. He had no idea how long they had been flying for, though he knew it wasn't long, and he knew he was going to be in there for a long, long time.

His mind kept flashing back to the expression on Pedro's face the last moment he saw him before being thrown into the plane. It was one of anger, frustration and sheer hopelessness. It was something Nico knew he never wanted to see again. And yet, every time he closed his eyes it was all he could see.

He sighed, attempting to think back to the happier times, partying all night long, hanging out and relaxing, playing with the Macaw's kids, attempting to avoid Rafael's, all good times. He pulled his cap down over his eyes, smiling a little and jotting up escape plans in his mind. He will find his way back to Rio. No matter how long it took, he had promised. As soon as he got out he'd head straight there, no distractions, no long stops, straight back along the shortest route as quickly as possible.

But everyone knows even the best laid plans are often the ones to go awry.

* * *

><p>Rafael was attempting to get what was left of his eighteen chicks, which was around ten of them together in one spot so he and Eva could feed the lot, and he had been fairly successful so far, with only two to go, when a grey and red blur shot into the hollow, scattering the chicks, who laughed and giggled as their father's face went from proud and happy with himself, to annoyed and frustrated with the panting cardinal.<p>

"What?" the toucan growled low, shooting daggers with his eyes at the bird now laying upside, having hit the wall. The anger in the toucan's face began to slowly ebb away at the look of utter panic and fear on Pedro's face as the shorter bird tried to catch his breath enough to explain. The kids were flying around the large room, giggling and chirping as their father quickly helped Pedro to his feet, who was attempting to get a full sentence in through his gasping breaths.

"Smug-" he gasped, fanning himself and trying to catch his breath, which appeared to have long left him, "smugglers in...in the jun-" he took a deep breath, trying to fill his lungs, "jungle, they got...they got..." he struggled to get the words out, choking up once more.

"Where? Are they still here?" Rafael asked, quickly counting up all his children, making sure all ten he had a moment ago were still around. Pedro shook his head, drinking in more air, leaning on the larger bird for support, his muscles failing him after flying so hard.

"No, they've gone," he said eventually, attempting to stand up properly, "but...but..." his breath started to come in short gasps, and Rafael saw all the warning signs of a full on panic attack. His heart sank as he began to see where Pedro was taking this. There was only one thing that could possibly get the laid-back bird so worked up.

Nico.

"Eva!" He yelled out, grabbing the attention of his wife, "look after the kids! We have a full on emergency on our wings here, I need to go!"

"Oh no!" the female toucan began, storming into the room, "you just want to..." her words faded as she took in the worried look on her husband's face and the panicking cardinal by his side. Her face dropped into one of concern and she nodded, grabbing the nearest chick by the foot and pulling him squirming into her grasp. "Go, do what you need to do."

Rafael smiled at her, quietly thanking her with a peck on the cheek as he led the heavily breathing bird out of the hectic hollow and out into the quiet of the jungle, with only Eva's fading shouts behind them.

Once Rafael had managed to find them some privacy, a cool spot near the lake, he sat the bird down, trying to get him to breathe slowly in and out.

"Give me details Pedro, what happened to Nico?" Rafael asked once Pedro was calm enough to give him the full story. Taking a deep breath, he started to tell him the full story, starting from when he woke up, right up until flying smack into the wall in Rafael's hollow. The toucan listened intently, trying to get as many clues from the story as he possibly could, nodding every now and again, encouraging his distraught friend when he found it hard to continue. When the story was done, Rafael stood, placing a wing on Pedro's shoulder, comforting the younger.

"And now, I-I-I just don't know what to do," Pedro said, his voice cracking, looking very much like all he wanted to do was burst into tears.

Rafael sighed, thinking hard about how to word his next sentence. He didn't want to hurt the emotionally suffering bird even further by telling him it was a hopeless case, they had no way of finding Nico, and no clue as to where he was being taken. But at the same time, he didn't want to get his hopes up, only to be cruelly crushed once more.

In the end he bent lower so they were at the same height and he could look clearly into his eyes, put both wings on his shoulders and tried to keep his face and voice neutral.

"Look, here's what we're going to do," he told him, speaking slowly and clearly, not once breaking eye contact, "I am going to ask around, I'll see what I can dig up, and we may be able to track the plane down," he inwardly sighed at the sudden look of hope in Pedro's eyes, "but I don't want you to get your hopes up, okay? Chances are we won't find anything, once gone these humans are hard to track down, and we have no clue as to where they were flying. It could be anywhere in the world." Pedro's eyes dropped again, and Rafael mentally kicked himself. "Nico's a brave bird, and he's smart," Pedro smiled a little at that, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, "I'm not promising anything, but if I know Nico, he's probably figuring out the fastest way back to Rio as we speak and will most likely be on his way back the moment he finds an opening to get out." Rafael couldn't help but smile as he noticed a bit of light returning to Pedro's eyes.

"I'm just...I'm just..."

Rafael was almost shocked at how quiet the usually loud and outspoken bird was, and it hurt him to see how much this was affecting his old friend.

"I can't promise everything will be okay Pedro," Rafael told him, "nothing's for certain and at the moment the most we can do is sit and wait, but there is one thing I know for absolute certain," that caught his attention, causing Rafael to smile slightly, "and that is that Nico won't ever give up on us, he'll keep fighting to get home no matter what happens. And you know that too."

Pedro looked up at his friend, his expression still mostly miserable, but a tiny smile lifted the corner of his beak, and Rafael saw the glimmer of hope in his eyes. Not hope in their efforts, not hope in Rafael, but hope in Nico, belief that the small canary would face all the odds and make his way back to them soon.

* * *

><p>When Nico started to regain consciousness after a short, fitful and downright uncomfortable nap, he could hear muttering from around the aircraft. After almost complete silence for the first hour or so of their journey, due to fear and nerves, birds were beginning to come to life once more.<p>

But the voices that filled the air were ones of hopelessness, of fear and of desperation. They talked of never getting out, being sold, being killed.

It only took a few minutes of this kind of talk before Nico simply couldn't take it anymore.

"HEY!" He yelled out suddenly, leaping up against the bars, feet gripping them expertly. Despite his small body, he had a powerful voice, trained up from years of singing over noisy crowds. The whole hanger instantly went quiet, looking in the canary's general direction. "What are you lot going on about? This isn't hopeless!" he told them, his voice cutting through the thick tension that filled the air. "This is a difficult situation, but we'll all be okay, we can get out of this." Instead of the reaction he was hoping for, which was a little more hope, he was met by silence. "It's not impossible, there's always a way out!"

Silence once again met his speech, a few birds breaking it with noises of disagreement. Nico opened his mouth to try again, but found no words would come out. These smugglers had obviously managed to kidnap the pessimistic lot. He sighed, dropping off the bars and settling back into his corner, feeling slightly dejected, but, somehow, not disheartened. He'll show them, he'd get himself out, and them too, because, despite the disbelief and pessimism, Rio birds stuck together and helped each other out in times of need. It was sort of an unwritten rule.

He may have also just wanted to show them he was right.

"Hey," a voice hissed from behind him. He turned around, coming beak to beak with a large green and yellow parrot through the bars of their respective cages. The bird looked expectantly at him, "so you really think we can get out of this mess?" He asked, voice low.

"Yes," Nico replied confidently, "I'll admit, I'm still not sure how, but I promised I would get back to Rio somehow, and I'm sure as hell gonna do it."

The parrot nodded, smiling, "well, if you need any help, I'll lend a wing. I have a family to get back to, I've got my first two kids on the way. It would be nice if I could see them hatch," the parrot smiled dreamily, obviously thinking of his wife and home.

Nico smiled gratefully, "Thanks, if I think of anything, I'll let you know," he said, hopping to the edge to the cage to have a good look around, seeing what he could use to get this cage open. Or at least make a hole big enough to get himself through. From there opening all the other cages would be easy as pie.

"I'll help too," a female voice sounded from the cage above him, and he looked up to see a young golden Parakeet hanging from the bars at the top of her cage, smiling down at him, "I told my mama I'd be home for dinner. It'll be few weeks late but I can still make it," she told him, winking playfully.

"Liking the logic there," Nico grinned back, winking back with a mini salute with his wing feathers. Going back to the task at hand Nico began to examine the workmanship of the cage he was in, searching for anywhere he could maybe pull back the wire and squeeze through. Thankfully he was small, making the job a lot easier.

If he could find a weak spot that is.

"Damn these humans are getting good at making these things," he muttered to himself, hopping closer to where the metal met the wood, noticing the tiny rings that looped over the main wire embedded in the wood. If he could get a few of those out in a corner he may be able to bend the metal back enough to push himself out. Question was, how to get them out of the wood?

But before he could think of an answer, another, seemingly more important question leaped to the front of his mind.

Where were they going?

* * *

><p>"Blu? Jewel?" Rafael's voice sounded throughout the Macaw's hollow. The toucan resisted the sudden urge to duck as three blue blurs torpedoed towards him, allowing them to almost tackle him to the ground. Thankfully, years of tolerance practice prevented him from being forced to the floor.<p>

"KIDS!" Jewel's scream came from a separate section of their home, "GET BACK IN HERE NOW!"

"Hey there," Rafael said to the two macaw's bouncing in front of him, and Alicia, who was still latched onto his body. He forced a smile onto his face for their sakes, as Jewel stormed into the room, her face furious.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you Ralf, but I was so close to getting them to sleep," she told him, attempting to gather the three birds up once more. Managing to get a hold of the two boys, Carlos and Lucas, she began to carry them back into their sleeping area, Rafael following with Alicia.

"Sorry about this Jewel, but I need to talk to you and Blu," he told her, his face serious.

"Couldn't it wait?"

"No," Rafael replied, with such firmness Jewel actually stopped tucking Carlos into his bed and turned to look at him, wide eyed. She nodded slowly, going back to getting the chicks into bed, taking Alicia off him and placing her in her nest.

"Alright you three," Jewel told the chicks, who were finally beginning to look sleepy, "Mama has to go and talk to your uncle Ralfy, it's really important that you stay in here and go to sleep okay?" the chicks nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation by her firm voice.

Once out of the bedroom section of the hollow, Jewel turned to Rafael, her face worried.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Where's Blu first? I need both of you."

"I'm here," came a voice from the entrance, the pair turning to see Blu standing with a smile on his face, a smile which very quickly vanished at the expressions on their faces, "What happened?"

"I'm afraid I have some...rather bad news," Rafael started, "earlier today smugglers managed to get into the forest, taking quite a few birds, from what I heard."

Jewel gasped, and Blu quickly put a wing around her shoulders, "Anyone we know?" He had to ask, eyes wide and scared, his stomach dropped when Rafael nodded slowly, his expression solemn.

"There were a few birds we knew vaguely, no close friends, apart from one," He told them, "Nico was caught and taken," his words caught in his throat at the expressions on their faces, a mixture of fear, worry, sadness and concern, "Pedro found him as he was flying over the runway, but barely, he didn't have enough time to get him out and was almost caught himself, however nothing could be done."

"Tha-That's terrible," Blu stuttered, unconsciously tightening his grip on Jewel, "is there anything we can do to help?" He asked, since Jewel seemed suddenly incapable of talking, her voice stuck in her throat at the news.

"I'm going to see what I can find out from people about it, have a look at the cameras in the sanctuary, but there's not much we can do except sit, wait, and hope Nico found a way out and comes home," he sighed, "But I'm going to need someone to keep an eye on Pedro, it's obviously affected him a lot, he's going to need birds to lean on over the next few weeks, so we're going to have to be there for him as much as we can."

* * *

><p>No one knew.<p>

It wasn't like Nico was expecting anyone to know, they were all just as shocked as he was at the situation they had been thrown into. But he had hoped to get some sort of clue, maybe one of the humans had said something. However, it meant he didn't know how long he had to get that cage open and get everyone out.

He was beginning to wonder just how long he had been in there for, he had lost track of time when he fell asleep.

"Hey Rita?" He asked the parakeet above him, and the young bird hopped into his sight through the bars.

"What is it?"

"I don't suppose you can find something to help me pry these metal rings out of the wood?" he watched as she looked around, "something really small if you can, and won't bend," he smiled encouragingly, turning to the parrot, "You too, Felix, anything you can find." The parrot nodded and immediately began searching.

Meanwhile, Nico had a go at forcing them out with his feet, then his beak, but with no avail.

"Hey Nico, will this do?" Rita asked from above, holding out a pin she had somehow managed to get out of the pin board hanging just above her cage, and Nico noticed, with some amusement, the piece of paper now hanging loose off it was the escape plan for the humans should they need to get off the plane.

"Let's have a go," he said, catching the pin with ease as she dropped it through the cages. He rammed it into one of the metal rings down in the corner, wiggling the pin a little to get it further in. Then, as hard as he could, pushed against it. His heart leapt and he almost danced when the ring began to slowly ease out of the wood. He pushed harder, the ring suddenly leaping out of the wood and the canary slammed headfirst into the bars of the cage.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his head.

"Woo! You did it!" Rita cheered, turning a few heads in their direction.

"Yeah, one down," he looked at how many he would have to do in order to squeeze himself out, slumping slightly when he saw, "like, ten to go."

Once some of the birds began to see that the little canary was actually making progress, mutterings quickly shot round the hangar, a slightly more positive atmosphere taking over the miserable one beforehand, although a few were still sceptical.

It took quite some time to get all the little rings out, Rita chatting above him, seemingly unable to not talk, though Nico welcomed the distraction, it stopped him from thinking too much of home, of his friends, his family, of Pedro. A few of the rings were exceptionally difficult to get out, some were deeper in the wood, and some had been bent as they went in, making them awkward to get out. One took around half an hour of pushing, repositioning and more pushing to get out. Several hours later, and he had just about gotten about eight more out, with only two to go before he would be able to fit his small body through when the plane began to descend, sending a wave of panic around the hangar.

Nico's eyes widened and his stomach sank with dread. He might be able to get himself out at this point, but how he was going to get everyone else out was a completely different question.

Slamming the pin into the next ring, he pushed as hard as possible. He would do this!

But, typically, this one choose to be difficult.

Growling low in frustration, he gave up, moving to see if he could force himself through the small gap he had already made, after bending the wire back. He could almost make it, just one more ring would do it, when the plane touched down, jolting the cages so much he was thrown back from the small hole and hit the other side of the cage.

"You alright?" Felix asked, watching as Nico pushed himself up, rubbing his head. The small bird nodded, glaring at the metal bars like he could burn a hold through if he tried hard enough. Just as he was about to try again, there was a loud bang, like someone hitting the metal of the plane from the outside, and seconds later the hatch began to open, spilling early morning sun directly into the aircraft. Nico used his bottle cap to block out the light, a very real fear settling in his stomach.

"N-Nico," he heard Rita whimper above him, pressed as close to the back of the cage as she could, and he quickly flew to the top of his cage, hanging off the bars as she did earlier, and pushed a wing through the gaps in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's okay," Nico told her, trying not to let the panic in his voice show through, "we'll get through this, it's okay," he said soothingly as she reached out to touch his wing. That simple contact calmed her down a little, her breathing slowing, her eyes focusing on the touch.

Every bird went silent as a human in a smart suit walked up and into the aircraft. He walked around, looking into every cage and examining each bird with calculating eyes. When he got to the canary's cage, Nico, instead of shrinking away, met the gaze with one of equal intensity.

The man stood, walking back out to the group of smugglers.

"I'll take them all," he told them, and Nico noted the thick British accent, as they walked off, "Take them to..."

The voice faded out as the hatch once again closed, and Nico almost growled in frustration, stopping himself only because of the trembling parakeet above him.

"You okay girl?" he asked gently, and she nodded in response, obviously not trusting her voice. "Alright, I'm going to go get us out, you just need to hold on for a little longer, okay?" She nodded again, releasing her grip in his wing, allowing for him to flutter back down and resume his work on the cage.

It took him another half an hour to get enough rings out of the wood for him to fit through.

"Yes!" Cheered Rita, looking down at him through her bars, grinning wide. A lot of the other birds looked over at her exclamation, and upon seeing the canary out of his cage and fixing his bottle cap, murmurs of excitement filled the cabin.

"Alright, can anyone see a switch to open the hatch on this thing?" he asked the multitude of birds as he hopped over to Felix's cage and began to work on picking the padlock, a handy trick he had picked up from years of raiding food from the kitchens of cafes and restaurants. Blu had also taught him a thing or two, a few techniques to speed up the process, which had been rather slow and complicated beforehand.

"There's nothing in here," one of the birds, a red, yellow and blue parrot, called down from his high vantage point.

"It must be in the cockpit," Nico murmured to himself, quickly flying up to the door of the cabin, as the cage door swung open, Felix hopping out and stretching out his wings. Peeking through, Nico immediately saw the 'Open Hatch' button, right in the middle of the dashboard. Definitely not in place for him to be able to sneak in and push it.

There was only one thing to do.

Wait.

"Alright, everyone listen up. I have a plan!" he called out, flying out to land on top of Rita's cage, where she looked up expectantly. "But I'm going to need everyone's co-operation in order to pull it off." Everyone nodded, now realising that this little canary wasn't insane, and he could, in fact, get them all out. Far from home, but free.

"I'm going to open all the cages, but I what I need you to do is stay in them," there were a few disapproving mutters at this, "the humans will probably be checking on us at least once during the flight, and from here, we physically can't open the hatch to get us out. So the only thing we can do is wait until the humans land this thing and open it, then make a break for it. From there it's all up to you." He finished to silence, a few of the birds nodding. "I'm going to need everyone's agreement on this, if those humans catch us outside our cages before we get to wherever we're going, they're just going to lock us back in our cages and we'll have to start all over again, do you understand?" a few murmurs filled the cabin, "I said, do you understand?" he repeated, eliciting a louder response. He smiled, moving to work on the padlock of Rita's cage.

It took about an hour for him to get all the cages unlocked, and surprisingly, all the birds kept to their promise and stayed in their cages, and not a single human looked back to check on them.

Once he finished, he went back to the top of Rita's cage.

"Right, is everyone done?" He asked, everyone nodding in response, "Good, now, I know it's going to be tempting to get out of the cage, but you just need to hang in there, and the moment that hatch opens, everyone go, and don't look back."

Excited murmurs filled the cabin, and Nico smiled, pulling open the door to Rita's cage and sat in with her, much to the Parakeet's surprise.

"I can't get in and out of my cage easily," he explained, "and I'm far too tired to bother with the lock," he told her, settling in the corner of the cage, his eyelids suddenly becoming heavy with sleepiness.

"You better get some sleep," she told him, smiling softly, as he pulled his cap down over his eyes.

"Wake me up when we start to go down," he told her, curling up in the corner, uncomfortable, but far too tired to care.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, and with certainly nowhere near enough sleep, Nico awoke to a gentle shaking. He cracked an eye open, grumbling about being woken up, and completely forgetting where he was.<p>

"What?" he muttered, burying his head under his wing.

"We're descending now," a high pitched female voice told him, "you might want to get up."

Everything hit him at once, and he shot up, looking around. Birds were beginning to get excited, murmurs and mutterings filling the room. The odd sensation in his stomach told him that yes, they were in fact descending. Scrambling to his feet, fixing his cap on his head, he looked around, seeing that every bird was still in their respective cages, and the locks were still off. Nothing had happened.

He felt something akin to excitement and adrenaline course through his body as he felt the plane touch down, not quite as violently as the last time, meaning he could keep his footing.

"Everyone okay?" he called out. Positive mutterings echoed around the cabin and he smiled, waiting for that hatch to open so he could feel freedom once more.

After a few creaks and groans from the aircraft, the movement halted, and after a few moments, the hatch began to slowly creak open.

"Wait for it," Nico told them, readying himself by the door of the cage, Rita standing next to him, grinning as sunlight and cold air began to pour in. As soon as the main hatch was open enough, Nico yelled out, "Alright! Go, go, go!"

Doors slammed open all around and the birds streamed out, a mass of bright colours and feathers. Nico flew out, hovering at the edge to make sure they were all out, laughing at the humans confusion and panic, as the birds spread out into the air, cheering and laughing. He could easily pick out Rita's bright yellow feathers as she soared through the sky, twisting and turning through the air in her excitement.

He was about to follow, when a weak voice called from below.

In the confusion, some of the cages had fallen and had trapped a small blue honeycreeper under one of the doors of the cages, the poor bird to frightened and weak to move it.

Nico quickly glanced at freedom, the clear blue skies and crisp cold air, and then back down to the struggling bird. Then, with absolute horror, he noticed the hatch door begin to move back up. He only had moments to get out himself out.

He looked back at the trapped bird, mentally kicking himself.

'_Damn conscience_,' he thought to himself, swooping down and grabbing the metal with his feet, pulling up as hard as he could, flapping furiously. The cage door lifted a little, but it was enough. The Honeycreeper shot out from underneath, shouting a thank you behind him as he dove for the exit, barely making it out.

Despite being hot on his heels, Nico missed it, his heart leaping to his throat in horror as the hatch shut fully in his face, when he was only milliseconds away from freedom, and darkness closed around him once more.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There we have it, chapter two :) I think this is possibly the longest single chapter I have ever written. I just didn't know where to stop, there was so much I wanted to fit in that I just kept typing...and typing...and typing...and so on. Just to note, I won't be focusing too much on the group still in Rio, as this is Nico's adventure, but every now and again I will be checking back with them, showing how they're coping etc.**

**I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you for the reviews so far :) Again, any and all opinions are welcome, and I do encourage constructive criticism if you feel you need to :)**


	3. The Snow

Nico peeked out from his hiding place in the storage shelves in the aircraft as the humans did a thorough search of the area, obviously hoping for birds that hadn't been able to get out. Despite his difficult situation, Nico chuckled to himself, their panic at losing all the birds was rather amusing.

His chuckles were cut shot as a hand suddenly slammed down next to him, searching and feeling around the high shelves. With wide eyes and heavy breathing from the momentary scare, Nico pressed himself up against the wall, trying not to make any noise and keep himself as far away from the rummaging hand as he possibly could.

There was a yell from outside, and the hand froze, then suddenly moved away, it's owner running out to see what was going on.

Nico stayed where he was, fear freezing him on the spot, breathing heavily. He waited until the humans voices had completely faded away to absolute silence, before peeling himself from the wall and having a proper look around. Light had begun to trickle in through the door to the cockpit, meaning he was beginning to get a clearer view of what had happened.

Cages littered the floor, the tallest pile having toppled in all the commotion. It was a miracle all the birds, save one, had been able to get out without being caught underneath.

Cautiously, he fluttered to the floor, constantly checking and listening out for any humans, ready to dart into a hiding space at a moment's notice.

But it would seem he was safe for now. The humans didn't seem to be coming back. Though what had them running off so suddenly was a mystery to him. He shook it off, flying up to the door handle to the cockpit, the door swinging open easily.

He hopped onto the dashboard, eyes widening and jaw dropping with the sight that met his gaze.

White.

Snowflakes were quickly falling from the sky, settling easily on the ground, covering everything in a quickly thickening layer of pure white. Having lived in Rio for most of his life, he had never seen snow before, though he had heard about it, mainly from Blu. Frozen rain was the description he was given, and that it was really cold and everything was just white. Cold and wet.

But this was definitely not what he expected, this was just beautiful. A small smile graced his features at the sight of the glittering scenery.

However, a tiny thought was nagging at him from the back of his head. Snow could only mean they had gone south, or really, really far north. Either way it was bad news, he had no clue where he was, no clue as to where all the other birds had gone, and hadn't the wildest notion on how to get home.

That and the wind was beginning to pick up, and the snowfall was beginning to get heavier. It looked like he was stuck in here for a while. Yawning loudly he realised he hadn't quite gotten enough sleep, it had probably only been an hour or so after he had unlocked all the cages, and after everything that had happened, the adrenaline that had been keeping him awake was wearing off, leaving him tired and exhausted. He looked around the cabin, noticing with some cheerfulness that the seats looked comfy enough, and one of the pilots had left a woollen hat.

He fluttered down, testing out the wool, and settled down, his small smile falling off his face as his mind began to run away with him, loneliness setting in as he realised all the birds had left without him, no one had even realised he wasn't there. Not even Rita.

He sighed, shivering in the cold that was starting to leak in. He wasn't used to this sort of weather.

'_I just want to be home_,' was his last thought as he drifted off into a well earned sleep.

* * *

><p>When he cracked his eyes open sometime later, the first thing he noticed was that it was no longer cold.<p>

In fact, it was rather warm.

And comfortable.

And quite dark.

In other words, the perfect setting for sleep. Smiling, he closed his eyes once again, relishing in the warmth that reminded him so much of home.

Hold on.

He opened his eyes once again, frowning at the rather embellished ceiling, fairly sure that when he went to sleep it was cold, and he was in a plane slowly being covered by snow. Sitting up, rather stiffly, he looked around the room he was in with astonished eyes. The space was large, even by human standards, and heavily furnished with vintage furniture and decor, a vast chandelier in the centre of the room. There was a large fireplace close by, flames burning bright, casting a yellow-orange glow on the room, which was dimly lit with a few lamps on the walls. He was still laying in the hat, which had been placed on a yellow floral patterned sofa. To the simple, party-loving canary who lived in a tree, it was hideous. Apart from the fireplace, though that may have a lot to do with the fact that it had a warm fire in it.

"Good to see you're awake," a male voice from nearby startled Nico out of his stupor, his eyes darting to a dark blue and white swallow perched on the armrest of the sofa looking down at him with small brown eyes. Nico made to make some witty reply, but found he had no voice, nothing to say. His mouth opened and closed a few times before the bird chuckled, fluttering down closer.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the bird said, and Nico quickly picked up the British accent, "my name is Alistair," he told the canary with a warm smile, "I saw that a plane had landed in the middle of the park, completely illegally, though it was probably because of the snow mind you, and I thought I would have a look since the snowstorm had dropped some. And what did I find but a sleeping canary on his own and shivering in the cold. So I brought you home." He finished his story with a nod and a self-satisfied smile.

"R-right," Nico finally got out, finding his voice at last, "Well, my name's Nico, and I need to get home," he told the bird, who cocked his head, a small frown replacing the smile, "thank you for bringing me here, but where am I?"

"You mean you don't know?" Alistair asked, shocked, "Why, you're in Buckingham Palace," he said, spreading his wings as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His wings dropped at Nico's blank look. "Y-you don't know where that is?"

Nico shook his head slowly, bewilderment clear in his large brown eyes.

Alistair sighed, dropping his head into his wings. "You're in London, England."

"Ya what?" Nico choked out, eyes impossibly wide with shock, "Oh no, no, no, no," he gasped out, suddenly breathing hard, sitting back and putting a wing to his head, "I had no idea we had gone that far," he muttered, more to himself than to Alistair, "I need to get home."

"Where do you live? Perhaps we can take you there?"

"Rio," Nico said simply, his face completely neutral as he took in the expression on Alistair's face, "as in, Brazil."

"Well, in that case," Alistair started, his expression going from stunned to thoughtful, "there's not a huge amount we can do I'm afraid."

Nico's face dropped into one of despair.

"I'm sorry, but until the snow clears no plane is going anywhere."

"I'm not going on a plane then," Nico stated, absolute certainty in his voice, "I don't have time to wait," he told the shocked bird, "I'll just have to fly myself."

"But that's impossible!" Alistair exclaimed, "it's way too far, you'll never make it."

"They told me I wouldn't be able to escape that cage, yet I did, and got everyone else out too," Nico told him, now absolutely determined, "nothing is impossible if you put your heart into it. I promised I would get back to Brazil, and I am going to do it. And if that means doing it myself and not relying on planes, so be it. Besides, after my last two experiences I'm not a huge fan of 'em."

"But you, I mean, you're such a small bird, how do you expect to fly all the way there?"

"With great difficulty probably," he shrugged, "but it'll be damn worth it," he grinned, "I'm going to need help with directions and such though."

Alistair sighed at the seemingly suicide task, flying over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and dropping the lid with practiced ease. He motioned for the canary to follow. Nico fluttered over, pushing his cap further back on his head to get a better look at whatever it was the swallow wanted to show him.

A large world map covered the wood he had landed on.

"This," Alistair pointed to a point on the map, somewhere in the south east on England, "is where you are right now, and this," he hopped further down, "Is where you want to go," he pointed at a point near the south of Brazil, "to go directly in a straight line is around six thousand miles, it'll take weeks just to do that, and there's no resting spots on the direct route."

"So I'll just have to take the indirect route," Nico said simply. Alistair sighed once again, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright, alright, I can see you are not going to be deterred by this," he said, a small smile appearing on his beak, "from what I've heard, this snowstorm has hit most of northern Europe, you'll have to travel down quite far south in order to find an airport still in operation."

"Okay, well that shouldn't be too bad right?"

Alistair looked at him like he was insane. "If the weather wasn't like this I would say yes, but it's below zero out there," the dejected look on Nico's face made the swallow second guess himself, this bird really was dead-set on getting home as soon as he could, "but if you are this determined, I suppose I can help you," he told him, and he couldn't help be smile a little at the joyful expression on the little canary's face.

"Really?" Nico exclaimed, grinning wide as he grabbed the swallow's wing, bouncing up and down slightly in excitement, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Chuckling a little at his reaction, Alistair gently pried his wing away, moving up to northern Europe on the map. "Alright, so if you are here," he pointed to London, "what I would suggest is flying down to Dover," he moved the feather he was pointing down to the South-East of England, "that is the point closest to France, it should only take an hour or two to cross the English channel," he tracked the route with his feathers, Nico nodding at everything he said, "from Calais, heading for Paris is the best bet for you, depending on the weather, you can see what you can do about getting a plane from there, or you can continue down as long as it takes to find somewhere not covered in snow. I have some friends in Paris who can guide you from there should the need arise. I can send a message ahead."

Nico grinned, overjoyed.

"It'll probably take several weeks just to find a operational airport, despite it being so late in the year, they've been talking about this snow lasting for some time, are you sure you want to do this?"

Nico nodded eagerly, his cap bouncing slightly.

"Just show which direction to go, and I'll be on my way," He told him, eager to get going, wanting to be home as soon as he could.

"Now, now," Alistair said, laughing, "I know you're excited to be going, but it's the middle of the night, and it's still snowing pretty heavily out there. Wait until the morning, get some rest, and I'll sort out a small pack with a few extra provisions for you to take," he looked the canary up and down, suddenly realising he wouldn't be used to this sort of weather if he was from Brazil, "and perhaps a scarf."

* * *

><p>"Pedro?" Jewel's voice echoed through the hollow, as she tentatively took small steps inside, "Pedro sweetie, you in here?" A slight movement from the darkest corner of the room told her all she needed to know.<p>

She stepped further into the hollow, Blu and Rafael waiting just outside. They had just received news from the sanctuary concerning a group of tropical birds escaping in London and felt it was only fair to tell the Cardinal, Rafael had promised to keep him up to date on anything that happened. They had to be cautious about it though, just in case the story had nothing to do with Nico and Pedro took it the wrong way. In the end they voted Jewel to be the best one to tell him, her motherly instincts made her the perfect person to break news like this. Or at least, that was Blu's and Rafael's argument.

"Hey darling," she said softly as she reached the bird, who was sitting in the corner, wings crossed and staring at the ceiling and thoughtful, yet miserable expression on his face, "how're you doing?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"What do you think?" Pedro said, looking away.

"Right," Jewel sighed, "look, we promised to tell you if we find anything," her words caught in her throat at the sudden peak of interest and the light that appeared in his eyes, "w-we have some good news and some...well, I-don't-know news."

The cardinal looked up expectantly at her, looking much like one of her own children after asking for an ice cream or to go to the beach. She sighed, wording her next sentence in her mind.

"Well, Blu was with Linda earlier today, and the news was on," she began, "there was story, it was small, it's amazing they even caught it, but apparently a large group of tropical birds escaped from a plane that had illegally landed in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London."

The look that had passed over Pedro's face was unreadable, and Jewel swallowed thickly before continuing.

"We have no idea if they were the birds taken the other night, and we have no way of finding out at the moment, but a heavy snow fall hit not long after, and a lot of the birds, after living in such tropical conditions for so long, are not adapted to such weather. Nothing more was said on the story, and we can only hope that Nico was one of them and that they made it through the snow. I don't want you to get your hopes up too much, but we thought it was only fair you should know what is going on."

She fell silent, waiting for his reaction with bated breath.

"He will make it back," Pedro said quietly after a few moments of tense silence.

"I kno-"

"No, you don't," he cut her off, pushing himself up, "everyone keeps telling me not to get my hopes up, no one really believes he can get back home, but he will!" he began pacing, his feathers ruffled up somewhat, "he promised," he added, much quieter.

"I do believe he will," Jewel cut in before he spoke again, and the cardinal froze, his back to her, "I do, he's a brave bird, and strong-willed, I know he will do everything he can to make sure he comes back home, all I'm saying is we can't pin all our hopes on one story, on one piece of evidence, and we certainly can't go rushing off to find him, if he's on his way back, chances are we'll miss him and end up on some wild goose chase around the world," she told him, moving around to face him, shocked at the sight of tears forming in the usually emotionally strong bird's eyes. "The only thing we can truly trust and put our hopes in is Nico's determination to get home."

"I know," Pedro said quietly, "all we can do is sit and wait, but," he stopped, eyes closing tight for a moment, forcing back the tears that were threatening to fall, "but I don't want to just sit and wait, I want to do something! I want him to get home and know we did everything we could to help him."

"We are doing everything we can," Jewel told him, putting both wings on his shoulders, gently comforting him, "I know it may not feel like we are, but it's all we can do. He's probably not even expecting us to do much, if anything, he's probably hoping that we just continue our daily lives as much as possible and just keep on living normally," the look on his face absolutely broke her heart, "if it's any help, you can come and live with us for a while, I'm sure Blu won't mind, the kids love you, and there's plenty of space," she paused, assessing his reaction, which, if she looked hard enough, was a tiny, tiny smile in the corner of his beak, a small glimmer of gratefulness in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, the smile tugging a bit further up.

"You're welcome sweetie," she said, smiling softly and enveloping him in a big hug, "just hurry and get back to your old self soon okay? We miss him too."

* * *

><p>"You ready?"<p>

A shiver was the only response to Alistair's question, and he laughed.

"Told you it was cold out here."

The pair were stood on a windowsill looking out onto the snow covered courtyard, going over the last details of the first stretch of Nico's long journey. The canary, who was so eager to get going the previous evening, was all of a sudden rather apprehensive about leaving the warmth and comfort of the palace. He had a small pack on his back with a few bits of emergency food, should he need it, a small first aid kit, consisting of a small roll of bandages and a really tiny bottle of anti-septic, just in case, and an address of a bird Alistair knew in Paris, a sparrow named Cosette. Wrapped tightly round his neck was a dark blue scarf.

"Alright, let's do this, I'll warm up when I start flying," he said, more to himself than to Alistair.

"Good luck," Alistair told him, a wing on his shoulder, "I hope you find your way home," he smiled, "and do try and send me a message when you do, it'll be nice to hear from you again."

"I will, and thank you," Nico grinning, tipping his hat, "for everything."

And with that, he took off, heading south, and heading home.

* * *

><p>It took him several days to reach Dover, the snow and cold slowing him down a considerable amount, especially when the snowfall began to pick up some halfway through Maidstone. And, after a long night's sleep, he crossed the channel, praying it was a short a distance as Alistair had made out.<p>

Thankfully it was, and Nico landed on the shores of France not long after, noticing with some amount of cheer that the snow wasn't quite as deep this side of the channel. Sure it was still about a foot's worth, and the two inch tall canary made sure not to land on anything but the branches of a tree to prevent the horrible feeling of falling into it like he did when he landed to rest for a while in Ashford. After a short lunch break in Calais, he hunted down a map, and found a few signs pointing the way to Paris.

It was another few days flight before he began to see the distance on road signs drop into double digits, then single, before the fog hit.

He was flying at a fair height, around a thousand feet from ground level. At first he thought he had just flown into a low hanging cloud, and that he would be back out soon. But after a good ten minutes of flying blind he came to the decision it was time to find a place to land until it had cleared up.

Before he could do anything however, a dark shape suddenly appeared out of nowhere, giving to poor canary no time to slow down, no time to avoid the object, and before he knew what was happening, his world had gone black, the last thought before he completely lost consciousness was along the lines of, '_oh crap.'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I don't like it. I don't know what it is about it, but I don't like it. But since I had a whole day to myself today, i just sat and wrote, and re-wrote, and read it so many times I've lost the will to care anymore. But hey, hopefully you guys will actually like this :) If not however, just tell me why and I'll try again, and if you do like it...well :D My day wasn't completely wasted :)**

**I do like most of the chapter, there's just something about the whole thing now it's put together that's just bugging me. But hey ho, it could just be me after a long, long day :P Either way I hope you enjoyed and as usual, your opinion is always welcome :)**


	4. The Hit

The first thing that occurred to Nico when he regained consciousness was that it was dark, and that he could vaguely hear what sounded a lot like singing somewhere in the far distance. There was a dull throbbing in his wing, and he felt completely stiff, as if he had been lying in the same position for days. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak, indicating that he probably hadn't spoken in a while either.

"Ah, c'est bon de voir que vous êtes reveille," a high pitched female voice sounded from somewhere above him, which was when he realised it was dark because he still had his eyes closed. Using all the energy he had left in his body, he cracked one eye open a little, testing the light on his retina, coming to the conclusion that it was dim enough for him to open both eyes, with great effort, without being blinded.

Standing over him with a warm smile and concerned eyes was a middle aged sparrow, and beyond her a plain looking room, wooden rafters filling his vision as she moved away for a moment, returning second later with a bowl of water and a rag of cloth. She wetted the cloth and gently dabbed at his forehead a little, before feeling it with the back of her wing.

"Bon, votre fièvre a baissé," she said, smiling a little wider as she moved once again out of his direct line of vision.

Nico was finding it hard to work out what was going on, his foggy mind working as hard as it could under the circumstances. He had no idea where he was, what had happened, and the bird was speaking French. Why was the bird speaking _French_?

Oh. Yeah.

The events from the past few weeks hit him like a pile of bricks and he shot up, eyes wide.

"Non! Que faites-vous? Lay descendre!"

He instantly regretted sitting up, a sharp pain exploded in his left wing, which he quickly noticed was strapped down, bandages wrapped around his body, and he quickly fell back with a groan of agony, clutching his wing.

"Là, nous sommes, vous êtes un long chemin de la maison ne sont pas vous?" Her soft voice, despite not being able to understand a word of it, soothed the frazzled mind of the pained canary, and he looked up at her with half shut eyes, "Est-il quelque chose dont vous avez besoin?"

"Wa-water," he croaked out, not having enough energy to say much else.

"Ah, er, English?" she asked, hopping closer to help the canary sit up, propping up makeshift pillow's behind him before bustling off to fetch a small bowl of water, which she helped him drink, since the injured bird only had one functioning wing, and even that was rather stiff from disuse. He took the time to have a look around the room, a large attic-like space with several candles dotted around. There were a few nests, and a large table at one end with lots of medical supplies. He assumed it must be some sort of healing place, much like the sanctuary back at home, only run by birds.

"Thank you," Nico said gratefully, once he had enough to relieve his normal voice. His mind was still somewhat fuzzy, but previous events becoming clearer in his mind and he began to grasp the situation a little better. From what he could remember, he had flown into something solid, heading into Paris when a sudden fog had hit.

"'ow are you feeling? You took quite a hit," The sparrow asked, settling down next to the nest Nico was lying in. He was impressed at her good English, though the accent was still very clear in her voice.

"Aching, and my wing hurts, what happened?" He asked, finally beginning to question why there was such a solid object so high up. It certainly wasn't a plane, it was too low and he didn't remember any noise.

"Vell, you flew into the top of the Eiffel Tower," the Sparrow told him bluntly, smirking a little at the shocked look on his face.

"Yo-you are kidding, right?" Nico stuttered, resisting the urge to drop his head into his good wing in shame. How did he manage that? Sure, it was foggy, but it's not like it was a target that was hard to miss.

"Unfortunately not," the sparrow shook her head, still smirking, "My name is Cosette by the way, I believe you are the bird Alistair told me about? Nico, was it?"

The canary in question nodded dumbly, still trying to get over the fact that he had flown into the Eiffel Tower of all things. Well, at least it would be an interesting story to tell when he got home. Though if he kept going at this rate, he was beginning to wonder if he would see home while he was still in one piece.

"It was lucky my 'usband was up there when you fell, thankfully only onto the top viewing deck, it could have been far worse. You managed to get away with a mild concussion and a broken wing, which will heal in time."

"How long was I out for?" Nico asked, dreading the answer. His broken wing would definitely set him back several weeks, maybe even a month or two, depending on when he could start moving properly again. He dearly hoped he hadn't been unconscious for more than a week.

"A week and a half," Cosette told him, and his jaw dropped, head tipping back with a low groan, "Alistair wasn't able to tell me much, but I understand you are trying to get 'ome."

Nico nodded, still a little shocked at how long he had been away now. Probably a little over two weeks.

"Yeah," he said, "Rio," he told her, smiling a little, thinking of home.

"Rio, hmm," Cosette mused, looking thoughtful, "That's a difficult one I must say, especially with the weather like it is."

"It's still snowing?"

"Unfortunately so, it's been on and off all week, all forms of travel save walking have been stopped, nobody's moving anywhere for the time being."

Nico silently cursed, frowning. Not even a chance of stowing away on a train or car until he can find a point where can he could find a plane to Brazil.

"Besides," Cosette continued, "it's not a good idea to move on until your wing has healed, I vill need to keep an eye on that to make sure the bones set right, which they seem to be at the moment, but it'll be a while until you are able to fly again."

"So I'm stuck here then?" Nico asked, looking rather dejected at the news.

"Vell," Cosette said, standing up, "you are in Paris, I can think of worst places to be stuck," she smiled, picking up the empty bowl, and moving to leave, "get some rest, you're going to need it."

Nico nodded, settling into the soft pillows and closing his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep just yet, but a bit of rest and a good long think might do him some good, sort his thoughts out and figure out a plan.

"Wait, Cosette," he called out suddenly, stopping the bird just as she was about to leave the room, "thank you," he told her, smiling wide. Her only response was a smile and a nod before turning and leaving the room through a hole in the corner.

Once gone he settled back down, ignoring the dull ache in his wing and instead focusing on the situation, like it or not, he was stuck in.

He had promised to get home as soon as he could, but that 'soon' seemed to be getting further and further away with every day that passed and every accident that happened. He wondered if any of the other birds had made it home, which got him wondering if anyone would mention him, would let his family know. He wondered where Rita was, if she had gotten through the storm and made it home to her mother in time for dinner, and Felix too, he wanted to see his eggs hatch. Nico hope they had both made it back, and hopefully let his own friends know what he had done, and that it was possible he had gotten out too, even if they had no idea where he was now.

His mind drifted to his friends, the only family he had ever known.

Blu and Jewel, despite only having known them a year, had left such a first impression on him he simply couldn't imagine life without them there, especially the chicks, the three little blue bundles of pure energy. They managed to tire even him out, something that only Rafael's kids had managed before. He loved them all the same, despite the fact they were only months old and already bigger than him.

Rafael. The canary viewed him as a father figure more than anything, and he knew all too well the older Toucan saw him as one of his own sons. The toucan practically adopted him when the little canary was barely few weeks old, not long after losing his family and owners on a holiday. Despite now having seventeen of his own children, and Nico having moved on, he still had a sense of protectiveness over the young canary, and Nico knew this all too well, Rafael always being the one he went to in times of need and was someone he truly looked up to. He had introduced Nico to Pedro, and though things momentarily took a turn for the worst when they first met, they became fast friends, and once his number of children had begun to grow, and Nico began to feel more and more like the odd one out, the friends moved in together.

This quickly bought his thoughts round to his best friend.

How was Pedro doing? They were always together, rarely spent a moment apart, despite not having the best start to their friendship. It almost felt like a piece of himself was missing, they had been best friends for near on six years now, spending almost every waking hour with each other. Rafael had once said that they were possibly the most married couple in Rio without actually being married or a couple. Nico couldn't help but chuckle at the memory, and of their reaction.

He could still remember how they met. It was at the Alley, one of the hottest clubs in Rio, several months after Nico's arrival in Rio and Rafael's adoption of the little canary. It started off as a simple introduction, the toucan bringing Nico along for the first time, and the pair initially got along quite well. Several nights later was their annual 'best of' competition, and Pedro was aiming to win for the second year running, despite his young age, and Rafael, after months of listening to Nico sing to himself and a small audience of their close neighbours, entered him too, knowing he was a natural performer. Pedro was still full of confidence, but, somehow, the young canary beat him by a feather's breadth.

This, of course, awakened feelings of insane jealousy in the young cardinal. How could a bird, not even two years of age, who had never even sung on a stage before that night beaten _him_? It took a lot of talking to from Rafael and a bit of convincing from Nico to get Pedro to calm down and forgive him, though things were still rather awkward between the two.

Long story short, there was a amusing collision, shortly followed by an accidental duet, both finding that maybe, just maybe, they were better together than they ever could be on their own.

Nico sighed, burrowing further into the nest and blankets, or at least as much as his broken wing would allow.

Maybe in a few days he could get out and at least explore a bit of Paris, and hopefully get his mind off home for a little while.

* * *

><p>"Good Morning!" the cheerful voice of Cosette echoing around the room as she entered the next morning. Thankfully, Nico was already awake, or he might have had to throw something at her, and his conscience told him throwing a pillow at his saviour probably wasn't the best idea he had ever had.<p>

"Morning," the canary said, yawning a little, he hadn't been up for that long after all.

"Did you have a good sleep?" the sparrow asked, smiling as she flew up to a small scrap of cloth hanging on the wall and moving it, revealing a hole and allowing sunlight to pour into the room. Nico nodded, her smile infectious. "That's good, you are going to need the energy," Nico's face fell and he wondered with a small amount of panic why, and why she had such a suspicious smile. It was one he had seen many times before something bad, yet usually hilarious for the other person happened.

"And why is that?"

"I run a small sort of..." she trailed off, trying to think of the right word in English, "group, for chicks whose parents need some time alone, perhaps to gather food or have a bit of a social life, it's only a small group, about twelve or so, but it can get a bit crazy, just as a warning, they are rather energetic."

"Twelve?" Nico deadpanned, his face completely neutral. Cosette turned to him, her face concerned.

"If that's too many you can-"

"That's nothing," Nico cut her off, scoffing, a small smirk appearing on his beak, "you are speaking to one of eighteen," he told her, smirk growing at the shocked look on her face, "admittedly, we're not related by blood, or even species, but twelve is nothing compared to them, so I think I can handle this," he finished, a confident smile now on his face.

**(several hours later)**

"I think I prefer the Toucans," Nico gasped, almost collapsing over the nest, resisting only because of his wing. He gingerly sat down, exhausted. Cosette simply laughed, tidying up the room a little.

"Don't you worry, you handled the situation well, considering your injury and the language barrier," she chuckled a bit, "They seemed to like you."

"Perhaps it's time I learnt a little French," Nico said, using his one wing to push himself up to help tidy up, "I learnt Portuguese well enough, do you-do you think you could teach me a little?" he asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

Cosette laughed, "I vould be 'appy to."

* * *

><p>"Rafael!"<p>

The bird in question almost jumped out of his seat at the loud calling of his name echoing through the hollow. Thankfully Eva and the kids were out, saving him the trouble of calming them down, and saving Blu, who had just appeared, exhausted at the entrance from being bowled over by lots of over-excited toucans.

"Yes?" the Toucan asked, turning with one eyebrow raised, his expression expectant.

"I have news," Blu panted, "Some parakeet called Rita just showed up, apparently she was one of the ones taken, knows something about Nico!"

"What?" Rafael shot up, it had been almost three weeks now, any and all news was accepted, however small, "where is she?"

"With her family, her mother won't let her out of her sight, come on, I'll take you to her."

"What do you know?" Rafael asked later, sitting the young bird down in her hollow, a strong sense of urgency in his voice, "tell me everything."

The small parakeet looked a little frightened at the tone of voice, yet determined, she was, after all, the one who knew the most about what had happened to the small canary. And even that wasn't much.

"I don't know much," she started, looking a little nervous, "but I was in the cage above him when we were in the plane, he tried to keep the spirits up of everyone else when the negativity set in. He was the first to escape, and he got everyone else out too. We weren't able to open the plane while in the air, the hatch button was out of reach, but everyone flew out when the plane landed the humans opened it. That was when I lost track of him," she looked away from Rafael's almost disappointed gaze, "I thought he was right behind me, but when I looked back, the humans had closed the hatch and he was nowhere to be found. That was when the snowstorm hit. Very few of us made it through that," she said sadly, "There were few places to shelter and the lack of defence against the cold made it difficult. I hid away and once it had stopped snowing I went out to look, even back in the plane, in case he had gotten caught back in there when they closed the hatch, but I found nothing. Eventually I had to head home, there was no more I could do."

There was silence for several moments, before Rafael sighed.

"Thank you," he told her, a small smile on his beak as he placed a reassuring wing on her shoulder, "you did the right thing telling me, who else knows?"

"No one outside this room," Rita told him, "I tried to find Pedro, I know how close they are, but Blu was the bird one I found who knows Nico, and obviously he decided to go to you first."

"Alright," Rafael said, walking back towards the door, "I think for this we won't tell Pedro, the poor bird is hurting enough already, he already knows birds got out, and I don't want him to lose that hope, not until we know for definite what has happened to Nico."

"And what happens if we never find out?" Blu asked quietly as they prepared to leave, casting a glance at the golden Parakeet, who was being fussed over by her mother.

"Then we will never know."

* * *

><p>It took several weeks of lessons and constant practice (Cosette kept slipping into French halfway through conversations just to test him) for Nico to be able to speak basic French fluently. He picked it up quickly, and amazed Cosette with his quick learning, chalking it down to already having a second language, and claiming the basics of grammar were similar to when he was learning Portuguese from English when he first arrived in Rio.<p>

"Bravo, bravo," Cosette congratulated him, "Vous avez bien fait mon élève," she smiled, and Nico did an over-dramatic bow, tipping his cap. The pair were perched on a high rooftop, looking over the city, which, thankfully, was almost snow-free, much to Nico's joy. The chicks from Cosette's day-care group were playing in a roof-garden of the flat below.

"Merci mon ami," he said, grinning.

"There is still much to learn," Cosette told him, "But you have enough to get you by until you make it out of France," she smiled, looking down at his wing, still bound to his side, but due to be taken off for good that afternoon.

"About that," Nico said, trailing off and suddenly becoming slightly nervous, "I was wondering if there was any way we could get a message to Rio, it doesn't matter to who, the amount of connections down there means that it will eventually get back to Rafael, he knows everybody."

Cosette nodded slowly as he was speaking, her expression thoughtful.

"I know a friend who 'as family over there," she told him, smiling as his eyes lit up, "'e has access to his owners computer so 'e may be able to send a message over, 'owever I don't know how likely it is it will ever be received, from what I 'eard Francis's brother, I can't remember his name, can't get hold of his own owner's computer as easily, so in the end, you may end up beating the message back home."

Nico couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought, "It doesn't matter, we can always try on the off chance they do get something," he smiled, full of hope, "there's always a chance."

Cosette smiled, glad for his positive attitude. She was almost glad he had turned up on her doorstep that night. He was a good kid, and she enjoyed talking to him, enjoyed teaching him. He was one of those birds who always had a positive attitude to life, laid-back and takes it as it comes. And considering his situation, thrown several thousand miles from home in a strange land with a strange language and no friends, she thought he was incredibly brave. Admittedly, she noticed times when he would stare into space with sad eyes, or would suddenly lose his positive look on life, but this was completely understandable. She may have taught him a new language, but he taught her how to look on life. With hope.

"Vell, once the chicks have gone home, we can take a look at that wing and then go and see Francis."

Nico grinned.

It wasn't long before the chicks were picked up and taken home, Nico bouncing on his feet impatiently, eager to get the bandage of permanently at last.

"Well, it seems there is no last damage," Cosette smiled, feeling the bones down his wing, "any pain?"

"Nope," Nico beamed, absolutely ecstatic at the prospect of flying once more. He had been cooped up for near on five weeks now, including the week he was unconscious, he needed to get out, to feel the weightlessness and the wind rushing past him once more.

"Good, 'owever," Nico's face fell at the word, "I wouldn't move on for another week at least, and take it easy with flying, the muscles in your wing will be weak from misuse." Nico nodded, understanding. He could handle another week, at least now he knew when he could be leaving. " You can however, fly with me to see Francis, it's not too far."

* * *

><p>"Woah," the gasp was out of his mouth before he could stop it. When Cosette had pointed out the plain white brick warehouse on the outskirts of the city he was expecting the inside to be some sort of storage area, or a work shop or something of the like. But certainly not this.<p>

He flew in through a set of double doors at the front and almost crashed once again had Cosette not pulled him aside and landed. The inside had been converted to replicate a Renaissance-style Ballroom. At the far end of the room was a vast embellished golden fireplace, and velvet covered seats and sculptures littered the edge of the room behind large pillars that lined the room. Highly detailed painting were placed on the walls, and the ceiling had been built into a high dome, with golden arches and a large crystal chandelier hanging from the centre. It was a masterpiece in itself.

Cosette couldn't help but laugh at Nico's shocked expression, beak and eyes wide open, wings hung limp at his side.

"Francis' owner is an architect and interior designer," she explained, "and this," the gestured to the room, "was 'is 'little' side project when he wasn't working over the past fifty years. 'e finished not all that long ago and now rents it out for parties and gatherings."

Nico eventually found his voice after opening and closing his beak like a goldfish for several moments.

"Well," he started, clearing his throat, "it's, just..." he trailed off, unable to take his eyes off the magnificent room around him.

"I know," Cosette chuckled, "Francis!" she called out, her voice echoing throughout the room, "J'ai quelqu'un ici pour te voir!"

There was a loud bark, and Nico almost jumped out of his feathers, a small squeak escaping his throat at the booming echo. A door at the other end opened a crack and a large bulldog trotted out, head held high as he looked round the room and a large spanner in his drooling mouth. He noticed the two birds at the other end of the room, his face lighting up in excitement, dropping the spanner and quickly, and messily bounded over.

That was when realisation hit.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Woo, chapter four! :D More of a filler chapter really, meeting some new characters, setting the scene etc. for what's to come. Next chapter the story really begins to pick up, with more action and adventure as Nico hits more trouble.**

**Translations (Courtesy of Google translate, if you can speak french fluently and I've gotten something wrong here, please tell me :))**

**Ah, c'est bon de voir que vous êtes reveille:** Oh, it's good to see that you are waking up  
><strong>Bon, votre fièvre a baissé:<strong> Well, your fever has gone down  
><strong>Non! Que faites-vous? Lay descendre:<strong> No! What are you doing? Lay down  
><strong>Là, nous sommes, vous êtes un long chemin de la maison ne sont pas vous?:<strong> Here we are, you are a long way from home are not you?  
><strong>Est-il quelque chose dont vous avez besoin:<strong> Is there something you need?  
><strong>Vous avez bien fait mon élève:<strong> You did well my student  
><strong>J'ai quelqu'un ici pour te voir:<strong> I have someone here to see you

**Too much French D: There will be lots of this in future chapters, most unfortunately, since I stupidly decided to have him go through Europe rather than some English speaking route that would've been far easier to write . Ah well, at least I know more about Europe, since I live here and have travelled a lot of it :)**


	5. The Message

Dark, wet and suffocating. That was all he could feel. There was no sound, his eyes were squeezed shut and he curled himself into a tight ball against the sudden sensation surrounding him. Faintly, as if from a far distance, he could hear Cosette screaming something in very fast French, and suddenly he was in the cold air, hitting the hard wood floor.

"Urgh," he groaned, wiping his eyes and blearily looking up to the worried and guilty faces of Cosette and Francis. He shook his wings, his face on of disgust as he saw the drips of drool hitting the floor around him.

"FRANCIS!" Cosette all but yelled at the guilty looking dog, "Etes-vous fou? Qu'est-ce que vous pensez que je vous apporte? Petit-déjeuner?"

Nico couldn't help but snort at what little he understood of that as he shook himself off, grimacing in disgust at what he could now smell. The dog and sparrow were now having a very heated, and very fast discussion in French, none of which Nico could understand, they were speaking so quickly. After several moments of standing there dripping while they argued back and forth, his head following like he was watching a tennis match, he finally snapped.

"Alright!" he yelled, voice echoing around the large room, "argue later, I just want to get clean okay? Seriously, it's not like this is the first time this happened to me." He scowled comically, causing Cosette to chuckle a little.

"It's not?" Francis asked, immediately curious.

"No it's not, now let's go, I want to be dry."

* * *

><p>"Haha, small world isn't it?" Francis laughed not too long later, as he discovered their connection, "what are the chances you know Luiz?"<p>

Nico just 'hm-ed' and nodded as he tipped his head back into the flow of warm water from the tap. "Actually," he said, flying up to turn the tap off and dry himself off, "considering the amount of connections in Rio the chances are quite high, it's the chances of coming across _you_ _as well_ that I find impressive."

Cosette handed him a small flannel, acting as a towel to dry his now clean feathers.

"Francis," she said, "ve need a favour, ve know you have contact with your brother," Francis made a face, "limited contact ve know, 'e can't check his emails as much as you, but it's the only link ve 'ave, could you get a message there?"

There was a tense pause as the bulldog thought it over, making faces. Nico held his breath, wide eyes expectant and hopeful. All he needed was a something to let everyone back home know he's okay, or at least was okay at the time of print.

"No."

"What?" The response was simultaneous, two beaks dropping and faces devastated, though one more than the other. Francis stayed serious for a short while, a tense silence dragging on as the two birds waited for an explanation. Seconds ticked by, before Francis finally cracked, doubling over in laughter.

"Sure, why not?" he cackled, trotting over to the computer and using a paw to turn it on while Nico and Cosette glared at him.

"Now that was just cruel," Nico muttered, frowning and crossing his wings across his chest. Francis simply chuckled.

The birds sat and watched in silence and Francis expertly navigated to the email application on his owners computer. He somehow managed to type in the address and moved down to the main body of text.

"So, what is it you want me to write?" Francis asked.

"I need him to tell Rafael that I'm in Paris, I'm safe and I'm on my way home, though I don't know how long it's going to take at this point," the canary told him, "hopefully it will only take a few weeks at most, but at the moment we just can't tell."

Francis slowly began typing, his large paws making it slightly difficult, but they could tell he was practiced at it. The dog muttered to himself a few times, but Cosette and Nico chose to ignore it, instead forming plans for Nico's journey ahead of him.

"Okay, so from here you have a choice, you can either find a plane here, though I vouldn't know how to tell which is which, nor how to get you on it," Cosette explained, Nico frowning a little, "the thing with planes, is it's risky, it all depends on the type of plane. And where you can sneak in. Luckily your size means that shouldn't be a problem, but if you are caught," she paused, trying to figure out how to word the next bit, "well, let's just say you won't survive long." She grimaced.

"I don't think I want to know," Nico commented.

"Second cousin," Cosette said simply, not wanting to go into too much detail, "anyway, in order to even get on the plane you'll need to find out which one to get on, where to sneak in, and a good place to 'ide, none of which I know I'm afraid," she looked apologetic, but Nico just waved it off.

"And the other choice?"

"You fly south, either towards Portugal, or down to Africa and find a ship to Brazil."

"Well, I made it this far," Nico grinned.

"Yeah, and flew into the biggest landmark in France," Cosette dead-panned, a smirk playing on her beak. Nico spluttered for a moment, unable to figure out a comeback to that.

"Done," Francis called over, and the pair cut off their conversation, Nico still blushing under his feathers and flew over. They skimmed over the message, deeming it satisfactory, after one or two tweaks, and hit the send button.

"Now all we can do is hope he checks that fairly soon," Nico said, more to himself than anything else, smiling gently as he watched the screen shut down.

But before anyone could say anything in response, an almighty crash sounded from the ballroom. Three heads snapped to the direction of the door at the same time, none even daring to breath. A few seconds of tense silence ticked by before Francis slowly and quietly (Or at least, as quietly as a large drooling bulldog could) crept towards the slightly ajar door, silently pushing it open with his nose.

"Oh, _merde!" _Nico and Cosette both sucked in a sharp breath, slightly nervous at whatever news was to come, Francis sounded truly panicked.

"One of the statues has fallen over," he called back, Nico and Cosette releasing the breath they were holding. "I am well and truly screwed," the bulldog stated, trotting out into the hall, the two birds gliding after him, grimacing at the sight of one of the priceless looking statue now in several pieces on the floor.

"Not good," Nico murmured, landing slightly awkwardly as his wing twinged a little. Francis was beginning to panic nearby.

"Oh, Je suis mort," the large dog muttered, repeating the phrase over and over again until Nico slapped him.

"Chill, you're going to be fine," he told him firmly, "accidents happen and we had nothing to do with this, you hear?" Francis nodded dumbly, eyes wide and shocked.

Both were so involved, Nico in calming Francis down, and Francis in actually calming down, that neither noticed the large bird that had silently landed behind Cosette.

Her scream echoed through the hall, Nico and Francis barely having time to turn around to find out what was going on before she was lifted into the air by a set of sharp talons, connected to a large eagle, dark brown with grey streaks running through his feathers. But the thing that struck Nico the most were the piercing green eyes that felt like they could burn a hole straight through him.

"No!" He yelled in distress as the large bird, easily ten times his size, took off and swept out the room. Far too fast for either Nico or Francis to be able to keep up.

"No," the small bird whispered as he watched his friend and saviour get swept away, seemingly for no reason.

"They finally got her, huh?" Nico whirled around so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash, eyes wide at the shocked yet sad look of acceptance on the bulldog's face.

"What?" Nico questioned, "what do you mean?" His look was scandalised. How can he look so calm about this? Cosette was snatched up, taken goodness knows where and he was just standing there as if he saw it coming from a mile away, and simply didn't want to do anything. "Francis, damn it, what's going on here?"

"I think you better come inside so I can explain."

* * *

><p>"So let me get this straight," Nico was saying half an hour later, fiddling almost nervously with his cap, "that bird was just one of the henchman?" his look was slightly panicked, "working for some 'gangster' Eagle in the city who enjoys kidnapping birds just for fun?" Francis nodded. "How often does this happen?<p>

"Usually someone goes missing at least once a week, sometimes more, and sometimes we can go weeks on end without anything happening," Francis explained.

"Has no one tried to do anything? Fight back? Surely with the amount of birds here someone must have tried to do something about it," Nico argued. Francis couldn't help the guilty look that passed over his face.

"Some have tried, but they either get killed or end up next on the list should they get away. In the end we've given up."

"But why Cosette? What did she do?"

"It's her husband, he tried to stop all this several weeks ago along with several others, failing spectacularly by the way, and they decided that the best way to torture the poor bird is to get his wife. She's been hiding for weeks, I'm sure you've noticed that she rarely goes outside?"

Now that he thought about it, there were occasions where she looked slightly nervous, a little out of place, somewhat worried, and he did remember her saying something about her husband, but he had never seen him. She hid her worry and concern so well he had barely noticed it. For his sake. He suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt at being so unobservant, so focused on getting home that he hadn't noticed.

"What happens to them once they're taken?" He didn't want to ask, but somehow he just had to know.

"We don't really know," Francis said, "there are rumours they're just kept there, locked in cages, sometimes hardly fed, some of the more exotic handed over to dealers," Nico could help but shudder at his own memory of the bird dealers.

"Surely there must be something we can do?" Nico asked, his voice still full of hope, "where are they taken?"

Francis looked slightly worried at the question. "If I told you, you would probably go straight there, and probably do something stupid, wouldn't you?"

Nico did his absolute best to look totally innocent as he shook his head. "Are you kidding?" he said, shocked at such an accusation of doing something stupid. He wouldn't classify it as stupid. "If that was the size of one of the henchmen, I would hate to see the leader," he shuddered. Nope, not stupid, more like suicidal.

"So you won't try to help them?" The dog looked doubtful, and Nico had to fight to keep his expression neutral.

"No."

Yes.

"Alright," Francis sighed, "I'll tell you."

* * *

><p>Which was how Nico found himself, in the dead of night, perched on a small branch of a large oak tree overlooking a old falling apart warehouse. He felt absolutely terrified at what he was about to do, but he had no choice, Cosette was in there. She had saved his life, fixed him up and let him stay with her until he was completely healed. He had to do this.<p>

As a precautionary measure, he had left his cap back at the attic, and had flown into a smoking chimney. Completely accidental at first, flying through the smoke, but he quickly noticed how it turned his feathers black. So, holding his breath and closing his eyes, he had flown back in, ensuring he was completely covered. Yellow wasn't exactly a subtle colour after all.

He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and glided silently down, landing in a bush right underneath the window. Stealthily, he hopped up onto the windowsill and peered in, almost falling backwards and back into the bush at what he saw.

Hundreds upon hundreds of cages littered the room, most empty, thankfully, but those that were occupied were dotted around the room. And in the dark, that made his task rather very difficult. Taking a step back he observed the building, looking for any holes or cracks he could get through so he wouldn't have to open the window. Just as he was about to give up and accept the inevitable, opening the most likely squeaky window, he noticed a small crack near the floor, barely big enough for him to squeeze through.

He just about fit through, and after a few moments of crawling, praying that the gap wouldn't get any smaller, he emerged into the almost pitch black room.

Trying to keep his breath shallow and silent, he crept further into the room, looking for any sign of Cosette. Every now and again he would come across another bird in a cage, usually either asleep, not paying attention, or looked at him like he was absolutely insane. And if the stories he had heard were true, he probably was.

"Nico?" The barely audible breath almost caused Nico to gasp, but he held it in, remembering he was meant to be silent. He spun around, looking in every cage, before finally seeing the sparrow, looking down at him from a hanging bird cage above him. He flew up, landing noiselessly on the bars.

"Hey," he breathed, trying to be as quiet as he could.

"What are you doing 'ere?" Cosette hissed, looking scared and angry, "you could be killed."

"You saved my life," Nico told her, "I'm just repaying the favour."

"No, you are undoing all my 'ard work," Cosette replied dryly, "get out!"

Nico had already begun wordlessly picking at the lock by this point, ignoring her pleas. It only took him a few seconds for the lock to pop open, having had plenty of practice when getting out of the plane. With a quiet sigh, Cosette hopped out of the cage, trying to ignore the smug canary grinning at her.

Just as he was about to take off back towards the crack in the wall Nico noticed the other birds in the cages around him, a fair few looking at him with sad yet hopeful eyes. Most of them looked like they hadn't eaten in days, thin and weak.

"I can't just leave them," he breathed, feeling Cosette stiffen beside him at the statement.

"Don't try to be the 'ero Nico," the sparrow hissed, turning to face him and gripping his shoulders, "We 'ave got to go! Before Vincent wakes up."

"Vincent?"

"'e's the boss around here, and 'e does not take escapee's lightly," she warned, pointing to a door with a small glass panel in.

"You'll be on watch then," Nico said with a little grin.

"I'm starting to think you want to get yourself killed," Cosette muttered, though she couldn't help the small smile appearing on her beak, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the black canary as he swept down to start on the first cage. She quickly fluttered up to the door, landing on the wood without a sound. She shuddered at the sight of around five sleeping eagles of various sizes.

While Cosette had her eye on the enemy, Nico moved his way around the room, unlocking cages as he went, each bird he had got out helped by unlocking more cages, the occupants of those unlocking even more and so on. It wasn't long before all the birds were out of their cages and gathered around the window as two medium sized birds pushed it open. Once it was open enough for even the largest bird to get through they began to stream through, silent joy radiating off them as they flew into the cold morning.

"Cosette," Nico hissed, taking her attention away from the other room to let her know they could go. Standing next to the canary was another middle aged sparrow, smiling up at her with warm eyes.

Overjoyed, Cosette went to glance back at the eagles before taking off towards her beloved. But she stopped halfway there, absolute terror setting in as she swept back to the door, praying she had simply miscounted.

One. Two. Three. Four...

"Merde."

The slamming of the window made all three birds swing round, wide eyed and terrified. There, silhouetted against the rising sun streaming through the window, was possibly the largest bird Nico had ever seen. Dark brown, with dark, almost black eyes that made him look like a creature that should only be heard of in myths and legends, not standing in front of them.

"Qui a fait cela?" the low voice that echoed throughout the silent room caused shivers to run down each bird's spine. Not one made a single sound, not a movement was seen. Fear rooted them to the spot.

"Vous? Marius?" Vincent asked once more, his deep voice sinister as he leant in closer to the sparrow, who only stood up straighter and looked the eagle right in the eye. Nico faintly heard Cosette gasp from behind him, and he knew what he had to do, as much as he didn't want to do it.

"Je-" Marius was almost immediately cut off as Nico stepped in front of him.

"No," He said fiercely, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice as the eagle's eye focused on him, "I-I did this," he said, unable to stop himself stuttering as the large bird flew down to land in front of him. Desperately trying to control his breathing and heart rate, the little canary stared defiantly up into the eagle's eyes, not once breaking the gaze.

Vincent broke it first though, closing his eyes and chuckling darkly.

"Well, well, well," he said, taking a step back, "what do we have here? A little, weak, canary." Nico had to bite back a retort at that, it would only make things worse. But he was not weak! Size made little difference.

Unless faced with a giant eagle more than ten times your size. It probably mattered a little then.

"Marius," he turned to the sparrow, who was staring at the canary in shock, "you can take your little wife and get out, I no longer have any interest in you," he waved them off, and Marius shot a guilty look at Nico before flying to his wife, who was practically in tears by this point and attempted to drag her out, a difficult task as she dug her talons into the wood, refusing to leave.

"Go on Cosette," Nico called back, not once taking his gaze off the eagle, "I'll be fine, I promise."

Cosette, still tearful and a little resistant, allowed herself to be taken out, through the window that Marius held open for her, leaving Nico and Vincent alone.

"So, you obviously think you're so clever, sneaking in here and breaking out every single one of my prisoners," he snarled once the window was once again shut.

"W-what reason do you have for keeping them prisoner?" Nico asked, fighting to keep his voice steady, standing as tall as he could, trying to look confident in what he was doing.

"Many birds in this city have wronged me, and I'm the boss around here, I need something to keep those birds in line," he growled, stepping a little closer in an attempt to intimidate the small bird.

It worked.

But damned if he was going to show it. He stood his ground, still staring up at Vincent, defiance in his eyes.

"Such a shame," Vincent continued, "you show a lot of potential, your size makes you perfect to be a spy for me, especially after last night. But after this, I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice but to kill you for ruining my entire collection."

That was when flames burst through the window.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I give you Chapter Five *bows* See, I told there would be more action ;D As usual, reviews are always welcomed and encouraged, no matter what your opinion :) Also if anyone can work out where the sparrows names come from, you will be my best friend forever :D**

_**Translations**:_

**_Etes-vous fou? Qu'est-ce que vous pensez que je vous apporte? Petit-déjeuner?_** : Are you crazy? What did you think I was bringing you? Breakfast?  
><em><strong>Qui a fait cela?:<strong>_ Who did this?  
><strong><em>Vous? Marius?<em>**: You? Marius?


	6. The Fire

**A/N: Just a note, the first section with speech in _italics_ means that they are speaking in french, but there was too much to translate. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"<em>What are you doing<em>?"

Cosette, tears still streaming down her face looked on in horror as a few of the escaped birds began piling twigs and small logs from a nearby pile against the partially wooden structure of the warehouse. They couldn't do that! Not while Nico was still in there.

"_We need to destroy this place,_" her husband explained, and Cosette dragged her eyes away from the window to let her wide eyed gaze rest on him, "_it's the only chance we have, while they're still in there!_"

"_B-but Nico's still in there_," she protested, looking back at the window. Somehow, some of the birds had managed to start a spark, and the small pile of dry twigs and logs caught alight so quickly that you would have missed it if you had blinked. "_No,"_ Cosette breathed, watching with wide-eyed horror as the building easily caught alight, it's poor structure and wooden beams making it easy for the flames to spread.

"_I'm Sorry Cosette_," Marius told her, putting a wing around her shoulder, "_but it's the only chance we have_."

Cosette barely heard him, gasping and burying her face in his shoulder as the flames burst through the window into the room that held the little canary she had grown to love as if he were her own child. What more could she do?

Unless...

* * *

><p>In a blur, Nico used the opportunity he was given, the flames distracting Vincent, only for a moment, but enough for him to dart away into the dark of the room. He flew behind one of the boxes, desperately searching for any way out of there before the vast bird inevitably finds him. Though he had to thank whoever it was that started the fire. Sure it may kill him, but it gave him a chance at getting away.<p>

A loud creak followed by several cracking noises reached his ears from somewhere above, and he looked up, praying it wasn't what he thought it was.

Of course it was.

Several of the beams in the ceiling had caught alight, and of course the one directly above him was beginning to disintegrate at one end, causing it to become very unstable. The glowing red embers at one end gave one final creak, heard clearly even over the deafening crackling of the out-of-control fire, before giving way, the other end not having the strength to hold up the whole beam.

He watched in terror, frozen to the spot, as the beam began to fall, almost in slow motion. He was willing his body to just move, to do something, anything! His eyes clamped shut, memories of home flashing through his mind as he waited for the impact.

But it never came.

Instead, he felt something grab his wing a forcefully yank him out of harms way, barely out of the way of the heavy beam that hit the floor where he was standing not two seconds later. The small bird crashed into the floor, not having any control over his movement or balance. He could feel the heat of the now fiercely burning wood on his back, the roar of close flames deafened him for a moment as his overworked mind tried to piece together what just happened.

"-co! Nico!" The high pitched voice slowly broke through his senses, and he looked up, seeing Cosette through the haze his mind had created for him. Or was that the smoke?

"What were you thinking?" His senses cleared almost instantly as the blackened sparrow screamed in his face. "You could have died! Vous n'avez pas besoin d'être un héros ici!" She yelled, slipping into French in her fury. Nico grimaced, knowing exactly what she was saying, but not regretting it. He could hardly leave them there. Besides, somebody had obviously taken the initiative and started a fire. Maybe now the birds of Paris would finally be rid of the eagle and his gang that terrorized them day after day.

"I-" He began to explain, but it was then that a colossal explosion rocked the warehouse, deafening the two birds and throwing them off their feet. Nico felt himself hit the floor once again with a sickening crack as his head smacked into the cornered edge of a wooden box close by. He groaned, gripping the bump with both wings, eyes widening in horror as he felt something warm and wet seep through his feathers. He sat up with a groan looking around for his friend who was standing next to him only seconds ago. He let out a breath in relief as he saw her shakily pushing herself to her feet not too far away.

"What was that?" He muttered to himself as he used the box he had slammed into to help push himself up. He felt a wave of dizziness as the blood rushed to his head and he had to lean against the box for a few moments to gain back his balance. It was only once he stopped moving did he take in his surroundings. Almost everything was on fire now, virtually the entire wooden structure was in flames, causing the whole building to become unstable. It looked as if it could come down on their heads at any moment. And if anything else exploded, it most certainly would.

"Cosette!" He yelled over the roaring fire coming ever closer, "we gotta go! Now!"

As if to prove his point, another beam came crashing down inches from where the sparrow was standing.

"Agreed, let's get out of 'ere!" she shouted back, taking off into the smoky air, the blackened canary following quickly after, trying not to breathe too much of it in as they both desperately searched for a way out. The window they had originally escaped from was blocked by tall flames burning up the windowsill. They were slowly being pushed back to the far end of the warehouse by the advancing flames.

"There!" Nico called, pointing to a small crack in the wall by the floor that looked like it could lead to the outside. It looked like it would be a squeeze, but with very few windows and the fact that they were all on fire, and the only other exit being a very heavy-looking closed door, Nico knew they had little choice but to try the tiny crack and pray they could both fit.

They swooped down, landing on the dusty and sooty floor.

"Go," Nico told her, keeping an eye on their surroundings for any sign of Vincent and making sure the flames didn't get too close.

"Oh no, not this time," Cosette growled, glaring at the scared looking canary, "I am not leaving you in 'ere again on your own, you'll just get yourself into trouble," she told him, eyes narrowed dangerously. Nico looked shocked. The caring sparrow had never gotten so furious in the six weeks he had known her. She had always seemed so calm, so serene, and here she was almost biting his head off for putting himself in any sort of danger. But, for once, there was some form of logic in his defence for putting her through first.

"And I'm sure I won't this time, not with this fire," he argued back with an almost calm voice, "but you are bigger than me, if only slightly, and that hole looks barely big enough to fit me, if you can't get through then we'll find another way out," he took her wing, looking into her eyes, determination burning fiercely in his, "together. If you can get though, I'll be right behind."

Cosette stared at him with wide eyes, not quite knowing what to make of that little speech. In six short weeks, the pair had grown to love each other as close friends, and Cosette knew from their conversations when it came to the birds he loved, he would just about do anything for them. She slowly nodded, dropping down and looking through the crack. She could just about see grass on the other side, a faint light glinting off the morning dew. With a small grin she dove forward, keeping her wings tucked in tight and head down as she squeezed through. Her head got though the even smaller gap at the far side, but her body got a little stuck.

"I don't think I can't get through!" she called back, slightly panicked as she caught sight of the fire on the outside creeping ever closer. She wiggled a bit, finding there was a tiny amount of space to move. She wiggled again, making slow progress, but inching forward.

"Yes you can," Nico encouraged from close behind, his once calm voice now laced with panic, "because there's no way back."

One of the piles of boxes near the crack had caught alight and they had collapsed, covering the small hole seconds after Nico had dived in, effectively trapping them inside the crack. Between that and the fire on the outside, the pair knew they were in a tight situation.

With another wriggle, Cosette managed to free one wing, which she quickly put to use against the wall, pushing herself out. With one final squeeze, she burst out into the open air, furiously flapping her wings to prevent the inevitable face-plant from the momentum. She soared into the air, taking a deep breath of clearer air. It was still slightly smoky, but with the wind blowing the smoke away from their position, she could breathe much easier. Just as she turned to check on Nico, his small body crashed into hers at full force, and they both slammed into the ground.

"Oops," she heard the familiar voice of the canary from somewhere beside her, "sorry, couldn't stop myself," a nervous chuckle. With a relieved smile the sparrow pushed herself up, spitting out the dirt that had found its way into her beak, finding that she was laying across the other birds legs and that he was laying sprawled on his back.

Nico sat up, tenderly touching the sore bump on his head with a wince, feeling the dried blood crusting his feathers. And yet, despite this, the moment he caught Cosette's eye, half-heartedly glaring at him, he couldn't help bursting into laughter, falling back to the ground with his wings around his stomach as he doubled over. Cosette tried as hard as she could to keep the glare on her face, but as it turns out, laughter is contagious, and it only took seconds to break down her resolve.

Which was how Marius and the other birds found them, in absolute hysterics as the pair laughed off their near-death experience.

"Cosette!" The sound of her husband's voice, even though he had been missing for near on five weeks now, did little to calm the sparrow's laughter. If anything she began laughing even harder, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then, out of nowhere, she gave a rather un-ladylike snort, shocking both hysterical birds into silence. The pair stopped, stared at each other for several seconds, before cracking up once more.

The small group of birds, with Marius standing at the head, looked on with half amused, half worried expressions settling on their faces. One or two looked at each other, eyebrows raised at the spectacle. Many of them knew Cosette, whether personally or through Marius, but none of them had ever seen her like this, they had only ever seen the calm, sophisticated, motherly side.

Eventually, the pair calmed down enough for them to be able to talk properly without bursting once again into laughter. Breathing hard, they looked up from where they were sat on the grass, giddy grins lighting up their faces.

Marius almost couldn't tell them.

"Vincent and one of his henchmen got away," he told them bluntly, his face twisted into a grimace.

That sobered them up fast.

"What?" Nico exclaimed, eyes widening and voice laced with panic once more.

"He was injured, we think his tail and one of wings by the way he was flying," Marius explained, in English for Nico's benefit, his French accent not quite as strong as his wife's, "but I can guarantee he will be back, and he will not be happy with you little one." Nico frowned at this, mainly at being called little despite the fact that he was, and also because of the implications of that statement. If Vincent found him, getting home was going to be that much more difficult.

As if it wasn't hard enough already.

"You need to get out the city," Marius stressed, looking extremely worried by this turn of events, glancing around nervously. Nico nodded in agreement, still frowning, wings tucked in tight and his whole body tense as realisation set in like a rock dropping in his stomach.

"Not yet," Cosette cut in, gently putting a wing around the small birds body, facing her husband, "'e's still injured, 'e can't move on just yet," she argued, hiding the real reason for wanting to keep him here a little longer behind her logic. Truthfully, in the short amount of time she had known the little canary, she had begun to see him almost as a son, at the very least a little brother. Either way, he was like family, and Cosette was very protective over family and whether he liked it or not, he was staying until she deemed him healthy enough to leave.

"Cosette," Marius began warningly, voice low.

"No," the female sparrow cut him off before he could continue, "I'll 'ide him if I have to, make sure Vincent doesn't find him, but until I fix his 'ead up and make sure his wing is okay 'e's not going anywhere," she told him firmly, tightening her grip on the canary, who was, by this point, staring up at her in wonder.

Marius looked into her eyes, seeing no hope of deterring her determination, his expression softening. "Alright," he said with a sigh, "but we have to move, I don't know how long it will take him to get himself together and come after you."

Cosette couldn't help but grin at his resignation, and she smiled warmly down at Nico, who was still staring at her in amazement, beak dropped open, though if one looked close enough, a small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Come on."

* * *

><p>"Owowowow."<p>

Cosette rolled her eyes at her squirming patient, holding his head still as she dabbed at the wound on the side of his head with water and a tiny amount of anti-septic. They were hiding out in the bell tower of the city's cathedral; Notre Dame. "Oh shush," she said, pressing a thin pad of cotton over the cut, which had begun bleeding again once they had started cleaning it and hadn't stopped since, "of course it's going to 'urt, and 'ead wounds always bleed a lot," she chuckled, bending down to pick up a small roll of bandages, "so suck it up and stop being such a wuss."

This certainly froze Nico from shock. He had no idea the sparrow could be so...so...sassy. He couldn't help but laugh a little as he mock-glared up at her. A glare that was cut short by a wince as she pressed a little too hard as she began to wrap the bandages around his head.

"Yes ma'am," he said, smirking a little through the pain.

"That's more like it." Cosette grinned.

Despite the joking and general sarcasm, Nico could hear the strain in her voice and he knew she was still slightly mad at him for putting himself in danger like he did, just like he knew Marius was angry about the fact that Cosette had dived in to save him once the fire started.

"Look," he began after a few moments of silence, "about last night-"

"Yes, I'm angry at you," Cosette started, cutting him off, "what you did was reckless and dangerous and you could've gotten yourself killed and then what would I do? I do not want to be the person to break that to your friends in Rio," she tucked the last piece of material in, finding a small safety pin and securing the end of the bandage. Nico stared at the floor, ashamed with a guilty expression, that was never fun news to tell people.

"Sorry," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes rubbing at a small smudge of soot he had missed when cleaning himself off.

"But what you did was very brave, if a little stupid, so thank you."

Nico head shot up, causing a stab of pain which he steadily ignored, shocked speechless at the sight of her smiling warmly down at him.

"You saved all our lives and almost 'elped get rid of a tyrant," she grinned, "Or at least three of his 'enchmen, which will definitely 'elp us."

Nico smiled, grateful that she decided not to blow up at him, but a frown quickly replaced the smile at the reminder of the ramifications of his actions. "True, but I now have a couple of angry eagles after me." He dropped his head into his wings, frustrated, and as much as he hated to admit it, a little scared.

Okay, fine, terrified.

Cosette stopped for a moment, holding the bowl of water and looking thoughtful. "Vell, I suppose we are just going to 'ave to be sneaky about this," she said with a sly smirk at Nico's look of realisation, "I think 'e's only ever seen you covered in soot, so there's a chance he won't know it's you, but we can't take any chances."

"Got any ideas?"

"I'm going to put you on a train to Rome, vhat you do from there is up to you, either getting a boat down to Africa and flying across until you can find a ship 'eaded for Brazil, or you can find someone who knows their way around planes. It's too dangerous to try and work our way around planes 'ere, it vill take too long and we don't have that sort of time. Our best bet is to try and sneak you onto a train 'ere and throw 'im off your trail."

Nico nodded slowly, it sounded like a good plan, but there was only one small flaw.

"What if he does find the train?"

Cosette paused, beak open like she was about to say something but stopped, words dying as she realised that could definitely be a problem.

"Stay inside," she said finally, "with so many 'umans around he won't be able to get inside the train, but you are small enough to 'ide easily," she sighed, looking extremely worried, "and in the off-chance that does 'appen, as much as it pains me to say it, stay around the 'umans, 'e can't touch you there."

* * *

><p>It was only Cosette and Marius who came to see him off several days later. He wasn't expecting anyone else, heck he wasn't even expecting Marius to be there, but apparently a whole group of birds who had been trapped had wanted to come too. However due to the secrecy of the event, they settled with leaving messages with the pair of sparrows to pass on.<p>

The weather was much better now it was late-April, spring having finally arrived and melted all the snow several days ago, and the sun was finally shining, warming the city out of their frozen slumber, the capital once again bustling with people.

Marius was watching his wife with great amusement as the fussed and fretted over the yellow bird, while Nico just stood there and took it all in. It was, after all, the last time he was going to see her. Just the thought of leaving her almost made him tear up, a lump forming in his throat as he fought back the dampness in his eyes.

"I've packed you this," Cosette was saying, holding out the pack Alastair had given him all those weeks ago, "fresh bandages, which I expect you to change the moment you get to Rome, a little food, and the name of the port you should go to in order to get a boat down to Africa and the name of the airport in Rome should you decide to do that instead. The train takes around 24 hours so be careful, don't get yourself into trouble, if you see danger fly away, I don't want to be hearing of anymore incidents, and if you-"

"Cosette, sweet, you're smothering him," Marius interrupted, smiling tenderly at the pair. The sparrow in question looked away bashfully, her eyes becoming filled with tears as she looked down at the little canary putting on his pack and fixing his cap. Before either of the boys could protest however, she had tugged him into a fierce hug, tears spilling over silently as she held him tight.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, pulling away and wiping her eyes, a watery smile tugging at her beak. That broke him down, Nico pulling the older bird back into the hug, burying his face in her shoulder, openly sobbing into her feathers at the knowledge he would never see her again. Cosette froze in shock for a short moment, staring down at the top of his head with wide eyes, before they teared up once more and she wrapped her wings around him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Marius watched the sob fest for a few moments, a small smile on his beak, before he rolled his eyes and wrapped his wings around both of them in a tight hug. To any other bird, they would have looked like a family whose child was leaving the nest for the first time.

"Alright," Cosette said tearfully, pulling away and wiping her eyes with a sniff, "the train looks like it's about to leave, you might want to get going." Nico nodded slowly, attempting to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. As much as he just wanted to get home, he didn't want to leave the amazing birds here. Maybe he could convince Luiz to let him use the computer every now and again, so he could keep in some form of contact, somehow.

"O-okay, Okay," he said firmly, more to himself than anyone else, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He cleared his throat, looking up at the pair of sparrows with wide, grateful eyes.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, fidgeting with the straps of his pack, "for everything."

"You're welcome sweetheart," Cosette cooed, taking his wing, "and thank you too, for saving us."

Nico couldn't help the proud grin that found its way to his beak. At least he had done something worthwhile during his lengthy stay.

They heard the call from the train conductor signalling that the train was about to leave. Nico looked over his shoulder at the long train from their perch on one of the metal beams inside the station.

With a small hiccup, Cosette reached down and gave him one more quick hug. "Be safe," she whispered in his ear as she pulled away.

"I will," Nico breathed, smiling wide. There was another whistle, and the trio heard the train come to life.

"Go," Cosette and Marius told him together, wings round each other as Nico took off into the air with a final wave and a tip of his hat. He darted down and through an open window into a compartment with a small family, Mother, Father and young son, all gathered around a Newspaper, completely engrossed. He used that moment of concentration to flutter up to the luggage rail above them, settling down right at the back, out of sight, leaning against a soft blanket the humans had stowed up there. Might as well get comfortable.

He had a long journey ahead of him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I give you the next chapter. I don't know why this one was so hard to write, especially the goodbye scene (which I actually teared up about while writing). But ah well, it's here now and actually ready to be published during the day, rather than the middle of the night, which is rare :P Well, I hope you enjoyed and please do leave review, always nice to read :) **

**Also, if you hadn't seen I've gone and committed writing suicide by starting another story alongside this, as a sequel to one of my other stories, so that will be updated along side this, meaning sightly longer waits between updates. But hopefully not too long, depending on what I feel like writing when etc. So don't worry, this story is my priority at the moment while I work out the storyline for the other one :) **


	7. The Train

It was only several hours into the train journey and Nico was already bored. He had taken a short nap to catch up on sleep lost the night before, due to nerves keeping him awake and then being awoken at some ungodly hour the next morning in order to catch the train. Midday sun was now pouring into the compartment, and the smallest occupant was curled in the furthest corner, staring at the floor in silence, just wishing he had someone to talk to, the lack of anything to do only serving to give him more time to think. And right now, that was not something he wanted to do.

Yes, he was finally on his way home once again, but he also had a homicidal eagle that wanted his head on a platter. There was only two things he could do here; try to shake him off, which he was trying to do, or just ignore him and hope he gives up. Unlikely.

And he could not under any circumstances lead him to Rio. The last thing he wanted was to put his friends in any kind of danger. Especially when it was his own fault. But if he couldn't lose him, there wasn't much of a choice in the matter. He knew his way around the city and the jungle of Rio de Janeiro like the back of his wing, and if he had any chance of defeating him for good, it was there.

"Mommy look!" he could hear the small boy in the compartment cry out, excitement lacing his high voice as he jumped out of his seat, running with his small legs to the window, "it's a big bird."

That made the canary leap up, fluttering to the side of the overhead, heart pounding and panic rising in his chest.

'_Please don't be Vincent," _he silently pleaded, ducking low so in the off-chance it was he wouldn't be seen so easily.

With a sharp intake of breath, he shot back, pressing back against the wall.

He was out there.

And he was fairly sure the large bird had seen him.

And much to his displeasure and against every instinct screaming at him to fly far, far away, his only option at this point was to stay where he was. The humans would stop him from getting-

His strategy as cut short by a almighty smash of glass breaking, and a loud yell along with two high-pitched screams from the people as they fought to get out of the room as soon as possible. Hopefully to find someone to get the eagle out.

Unlikely.

As quickly as he possibly could, Nico darted into the tiny gap between the wall and a large black suitcase, trying not to breathe too hard in his panic. From his rather tight hiding space, he could hear Vincent, who only barely had enough space for his wing span in the tiny compartment, blindly searching with one of his long sharp talons in the area the smaller bird had once been. He could hear him growl as he found nothing, and Nico knew it was only a matter of time before he moved the suitcase and found him.

He began frantically searching for an escape, noticing a small gap where the zip on the luggage wasn't quite done up fully. He took the chance, squeezing in and wiggling through the clothes inside, just as Vincent violently pulled it off the shelf, dropping it rather forcefully to the floor. Thankfully he was already deep inside by that point and the clothes surrounding him softened the blow. He resisted the urge to snicker as he heard the cry of frustration outside, choosing instead to wriggle his way into a pocket in a pair of trousers in the off-chance the case was opened and searched.

It wasn't.

As if from a great distance, Nico could hear the muffled shouts of the humans, and what he could only assume was a gunshot. The suitcase was shoved roughly aside in Vincent's escape back through the broken window, knocking the poor canary about a little, though the clothing softened the hit.

For a few moments, there was silence. No sound whatsoever reached his ears. Then muffled shouting broke through the haze, and the bag was gently picked up and was carried down the hall, hurriedly judging by the amount of times it hit the wall, and carefully lifted up onto another shelf. Obviously another room as theirs had been ruined and the window smashed.

With great effort, Nico pushed his way back to the way he had gotten in, a small opening in the zip and breathed in a long gasp of fresh cool air. The need to burst out and soar into the open sky was overwhelming, but he stayed put, knowing it was safe in here. Vincent wouldn't pull another stunt like that, no matter how desperate he was. Besides, with all the clothes in the suitcase, at least it was comfy.

With the excitement over and the adrenaline beginning to wear off the homebound canary settled down in the soft cloth, praying for the rest of his journey to the more or less uneventful.

As if.

* * *

><p>"At least he's getting back to his normal self."<p>

Rafael nodded with a grim smile as he stood with Jewel watching Pedro and Blu play with the mini macaws and some of his own younger children. He seemed to be enjoying himself well enough, there was nothing fake about his smile or his laugh, the older bird knew him well enough by this point to be able to tell this. But he also knew the cardinal well enough to see the hopelessness in his eyes whenever he had nothing to distract him. It had been almost two months now, and almost all of the birds that had been taken with Nico had returned, and those who hadn't come back were accounted for, either choosing to stay elsewhere or hadn't survived the storm.

But nothing had been heard about the little canary. No story, no rumours, nothing. And anyone could see it was starting to get to them all.

Pedro refused to sing at the Alley anymore, he rarely even went. Rafael and Eva were both extremely worried about their adopted son, and even their younger children were beginning to notice the gap the small bird left. Blu and Jewel kept all three of their children incredibly close since the incident, and said children were all missing their lively uncle.

Rafael was doing all he could to get any information he could, sending out all his contacts and spreading the word, hopefully the news would get out and something would come back. He wasn't particularly optimistic about the approach he was taking, it was risky, it often became a huge game of Chinese whispers, the story changing each time it exchanged beaks, but it was all they had.

"I wouldn't say that just yet," the toucan muttered with a frown, "think of this as the calm before the storm," Jewel looked at him with shock and concern on her face, "it's going to get worse before it can get better."

* * *

><p>'Rome is certainly impressive,' Nico thought as he landed on top of the highest edge of the vast Colosseum not long after the train finally arrived the next day. Unfortunately so. At least in Paris he immediately had someone to lean on, someone who knew the city and helped him figure out what to do next. Here as a completely different story. Not only that, but he came across another problem.<p>

Another country, another language.

Cosette spoke English, there was bound to be someone here who could too. The only question was who?

His thoughts were interrupted when a loud rumble came from the general direction of his stomach, and he couldn't help but groan, remembering that he hadn't eaten properly since yesterday morning. Flopping on the warm stone, he slipped his pack off, digging through it for the rest of his food. Once he found what was left; a few pieces of biscuit and some dried apple, he settled down and watched the city while he ate.

He fluttered around the city for several hours after that, apparently looking so lost that several birds approached him, concern clear in their eyes, but only ever speaking a language he didn't know. They all eventually left him alone after a very awkward conversation in which neither party knew what the other was saying. It was early evening and the sun was just beginning to set by the time Nico slumped back where he had started, feeling slightly hopeless. He shut his eyes tight, wishing he could block out this nightmare.

That was when he heard it. The ever-so-faint sound of music. It wasn't quite the music he was both used to and in to, but it was upbeat and had a good rhythm.

The canary sat up, wide-eyed and suddenly not quite as tired as he was before. There was always something about music that woke up something inside him, whether it was samba or rock, a ballad or trance, he always felt alive when there was music playing.

He took to the air, following the sound deeper into the ancient arena, diving into the maze of stone in the centre as the sound grew louder and louder.

As he turned into a small gap bright lights attacked his vision, deep within the walls of the Colosseum and far away from prying human eyes. A club crammed with birds of all shapes and sizes, brightly coloured lights and lasers lit up the surprisingly large space.

It looked so much like the Alley back in Rio that he almost backed out of going in, but he steeled himself and moved forward, blocking out memories of home as he squeezed through birds. A sort of techno beat was blasting out of obviously stolen speakers, bass fast and heavy. It wasn't the sort of music he would usually enjoy, being a samba bird through and through, but he could help the smile and the bob of his head as he moved through the dancing crowds.

On the far side of the room, the furthest away from the loud music blasting into the space was what looked like a bar. Nico made a beeline for it, hoping against all odds he could find someone who could help him out.

"Ciao, cosa posso ottenere per te?" the bartender, a large, thin bird with a long beak asked as the canary sat down on one of the higher stools. The bird was met with a completely blank, wide-eyed look, and he sighed, smirking a little with a shake of his head. "English?"

Nico almost sagged in relief, nodding with a sheepish smile.

"I'm Anthony, but most just call me Ant. Where ya from kid?" The bartender asked, talking with a thick Italian accent but speaking in clear English. He was smiling fully now as he leant on the bar.

The yellow bird was slightly startled by the question, not quite expecting it, but answered in his usual confident fashion none-the-less. "I'm Nico, from Rio," he said, almost proudly.

"Rio, huh?" the other repeated thoughtfully, "I went there once, about a decade ago now, took my girl to the carnival. Week long party," he chuckled at the memory, "best week of my life, but not long after I was married with kids." He grinned as Nico simply raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Sounds familiar," Nico laughed, remembering the story of how Rafael and Eva got together. One moment they were living the high life, the next they were married and had eighteen kids to look after.

"I want to say you're here on holiday, but the expression on your face when I spoke to you in Italian says otherwise."

Nico shook his head, "I'm trying to get home," he told Ant with a shrug, "there was a bit of an incident with bird smugglers a few months ago and I ended up in England, been trying to get back ever since. Harder than it looks."

"Well if it's taken you that long I wouldn't have guessed it was easy ride," Ant said, "that or you got seriously distracted," he added with a wink.

"Unfortunately no such luck," Nico chuckled. It was then someone from further down the bar called for the tender.

"I know a couple of guys that could help you," Ant told him right before he left to serve, "hang around here and I'll throw them in your direction."

* * *

><p>"Say Rafael?"<p>

"Hmmm?"

"I've noticed something, now I could just be miscounting, since they never sit still long enough for anyone to actually count, but your kids..."

Jewel trailed off, almost afraid to ask. Rafael cracked an eye open from where he was relaxing on a branch with the two macaws, overseeing their kids play in the water. His expression was expectant, questioning, but in no way accusing. "Yes?"

"Well, since the last hatch a year ago, the count's been eighteen, but I've only ever counted seventeen."

The older toucan stiffened, catching even Blu's attention. Jewel panicked slightly at the gesture, and began wildly backtracking, until he stopped her with a simple wing. He had relaxed again, and had a small smile on his beak.

"Don't you go all panicky, all you did was ask an innocent question. In all honesty I'm just surprised you don't already know," he shook his head, smiling, though his eyes were distant, "you have met all eighteen, though you may not have realised. It was about six years ago, before kids had even come into the question. Not long after Carnival, I found a bird, barely able to fly, only a year old, a pet, but abandoned by his family. Eva and myself took him in and more or less adopted him."

"So he's not actually your son?" Blu asked, looking round his wife to see the toucan clearly.

"Biologically speaking, no, but despite that, he is first and foremost my son and a firm member of my family."

"Wow, I know you two were close, and I suppose I have noticed you treat him slightly different to other birds, but I had no idea," Jewel, having cottoned on, said softly, placing her wing on his, "I can't imagine how hard this must have been for you."

Rafael simply watched the remainder of his family play in the sand, his eyes vacant, as if in a distant memory. He had been so focused these past couple of months on keeping everyone else together, keeping Pedro from falling apart and looking after his other children that he barely had time to look at his own feelings on the matter. He had after all, lost his eldest, and although he knew the canary was old enough and strong enough to look after himself, it was a fathers prerogative to watch out for his kids, no matter how old they were. And the feeling that he couldn't look after him, that he was half way around the world and no one knew where he was or even if he was safe, made the older bird feel so helpless.

All he wanted to do was hold his son in his wings, and never let go.

"Who?" He heard Blu ask, as if from a distance.

"Who do you think?" he said with a sad smile, "Nico."

* * *

><p>Nico was beginning to drop off when they bowled him over. Literally.<p>

"So, I hear you need to get to Rio," a low pitched voice came from somewhere above his position on the floor.

"In which case you came to the right birds," it was a different voice, he was sure of it. It sounded almost identical to the first, but the canary picked up the slightly higher pitch.

"Do you mind getting off me?" Nico asked, his face against the floor. He tried to sound polite, but the tone was bordering murderous. He was tired, hungry, had nowhere to sleep, he wanted to go home and had been waiting for near on four hours for this mysterious 'help. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods.

"Now, now, that's really no way to speak to your saviours now is it?" The first voice commented, neither moving from their position on top of him.

"Not at all, maybe we won't help you after all," the other remarked.

"Boys, don't kill the poor kid, I think he's been through enough." Ant's voice drifted from nearby. Thankfully the two weight's listened and clambered up and off him. Nico sucked in a lungful of air and pushed himself into a sitting position, coughing a little as he tried to breathe normally again. He turned to look at his attackers, raising his eyebrows as he saw a pair of identical owls, both brown and white, sitting side by side with wide smiles on their faces. They were about twice his size, though in owl sizes, this was still pretty small. They had wide, dark eyes that had a glint of mischief. Any other day, he would probably get along with the pair from the moment they met. But unfortunately, today they met the tired and irritable Nico, who only wanted a nice warm bed and a long, long sleep.

"I'm Joe," the one on the left chirped

"And I'm Josh," the other added. They both looked so happy and so...awake, that all Nico wanted to do was strangle them both.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it's been a long day, I just need to find somewhere to sleep and we can pick this up in the morning. Sound good?" He asked, voice strained as he tried to be civil. "Trust me, I'm usually a nice guy in general, but I get grouchy when I haven't had enough sleep, so how about I'll see you in the morning and we can sort everything out then?"

Both owls looked at each other nervously. They wanted to help, they always did, but despite the small size, this one was scary. Ant had told them he was just a nice bird trying to get home.

"Alright."

"I suppose we don't have a choice"

"I mean, I do want to live."

"So I guess we can wait."

Nico's gaze flicked between them both. All he could think of was physic link, since they were finishing each other's sentences without hesitation. That or they were actually one bird and he was just_ that_ tired.

"You can stay at our place."

"If you want." They smiled, trying to get back into the small birds good books.

"Thank you," Nico sighed, a small smile of his own gracing his features.

The two owls lead him out, both mentally filing away that they should not cross tired and irritable birds in serious situations, no matter how much smaller they were.

Oh, and the future pranks for the non-serious situations. It was always fun to see how far they could push someone without being murdered.

So far, so good.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'll go over it for mistakes in the morning, right now, sleep is in order myself. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed writing it. I love delving into a persons emotions when a situation like this happens, and Rafael is certainly interesting, so will definitely be looking more into that, along with other characters. And I have such plans for the twins, I can't wait to write more of them :D**

**As usual, reviews of any nature are welcomed, I love critique, so long as it's constructive, so whatever you feel, tell me :)**


	8. The Plane

The morning was quiet in the usually bustling city, the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, casting a pink-orange hue over the vast capital and the only people out and about were the street cleaners and the few early risers on their way to work. A small number of birds that hadn't been partying all night were already out and about, going about their usual morning routines. It was peaceful.

But two shadows slinked through the dawn, their only purpose; to ruin the peace the early morning brought.

Silently they moved, perfectly in sync with the other and what they were thinking. As one, the pair snuck round the corner and through a hole in a roof of a tall building. Inside this attic space were to rows of eight nests, of various sizes. Only six were taken, all by fairly small birds, save one, holding a rather oversized pigeon.

The two figures crept towards the closest occupied nest, both sets of wings closed over a creature desperate to escape.

They drew ever closer, grins pulling at their beaks and the urge to giggle almost unbearable.

They held their clasped wings over their unsuspecting victim.

And let go.

* * *

><p>The screech that echoed around the city was loud enough to wake the dead.<p>

Or at least those who slept like the dead.

Nico awoke so suddenly and with such a start at the sound brutally attacking his ears that he fell out of bed. Resisting the urge to curl into a tight ball and go back to sleep, the small bird let out a small groan and pushed himself up off the ground to see what was going on and why there was so much noise so early in the morning.

The sight that met his eyes was one of both amusement and confusion.

A young pure white dove, not that much bigger than Nico himself was chasing Joe and Josh around the room, screaming and yelling, in what sounded like Portuguese at the top, or what he hoped was the top of her voice. The pair of owls were doing everything they could to get away from the smaller bird, looking absolutely terrified.

With one eyebrow raised, Nico looked to his left with a yawn, seeing the girl's empty nest, covers thrown back, a rather large spider standing on top, it's eight eyes glittering with amusement. Nico, who didn't have a problem with spiders unless they were poisonous simply rolled his eyes, looking around the rest of the room, seeing the rest of the birds looking up from their beds all looking rather irritated and exasperated, some dropping back into their nests and burying their heads in their wings.

"Joshua, you idiot!" Joe yelled to his brother who was right behind him, "I can't believe you got the wrong bed!"

"I got the wrong bed?"Joshua squawked indignantly, "You were the one who insisted, I told you it was the next one across."

This did nothing to stem the girl's fury and Nico, who was about to go and help them, immediately stopped, looked at the bed, which was on the end of the row, frowned, and sat back down on the bed to watch the chase.

It ended, much to Nico's entertainment, with the two owls being pinned down by the much smaller bird, the young dove screaming in their ears in very fast Portuguese while she bent their wings behind their back in what looked like a very awkward and painful angle.

This went on for about another five minutes, most of the room looking confused at the words coming out of the small birds mouth, obviously having no idea what she was saying, though Nico almost couldn't contain his laughter at some of the insults, threats and downright astonishing swear words that she was deafening them with.

Ten minutes later the young dove was sitting in her nest, calmly examining her feathers like nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the twins were whimpering in the corner, clinging on to each other like it was their only lifeline.

Most of the room were steadily ignoring them, chatting between them, and the large pigeon had rolled over and was snoring away once more. Nico however, was watching the pair with raised eyebrows, trying to think of just who they reminded him of.

"I don't even know what she was saying," one was saying.

Nico couldn't help but laugh at that, covering his beak with his wing as he heard a stifled snort from somewhere to his left. The twins looked at them, eyes wide with fear. Nico smiled, trying to look completely innocent.

"Trust me," he said, breaking into a grin, "you don't even want to know."

"You know what I saying?" the high-pitched and thankfully much quieter voice of the dove questioned, in slightly broken English, and Nico turned to see her inquiring gaze.

"Every word," Nico replied, switching to Portuguese, a playful and now rather awake smile on his face. She couldn't help grinning in return, relief and happiness shining in her eyes.

"My name's Adriana," she said, holding out a wing.

"Nico," he replied, reaching over to shake it. "Where ya from?"

"Mozambique," she told him settling back in her nest, "trying to get back there at the moment, but got slightly sidetracked with those two about a week ago," she sighed dramatically, shaking her head.

"We're in slightly similar situations then," at her puzzled look he continued, "I'm from Rio, was taken by bird smugglers about two months ago, and trying to get home. Though I'm slightly worried now."

Adriana laughed, "oh don't worry about them, they like to prank, I think they just like to see how far they can push people before they snap."

"I see they found your snapping point," Nico teased, his voice light and joking. Adriana glowered, rolling her eyes and glaring at the pair of owls, who had gotten over their backfired plan and were happily chatting away in the corner, looking for all the world completely innocent, though both Nico and Adriana suspected otherwise.

"Let's just say I have a very short temper, I don't like spiders in any way, shape or size, and I like my sleep far too much," she huffed, crossing her wings over her chest, "that's the second time they've done something like that to me."

"It was meant for me," Nico explained, "I don't know if you heard that over your screaming, they got the wrong bed."

Adriana snorted, "seriously? Well, they seem to do it to everyone, I've been sleeping here a week. But if there's one redeeming feature about them it's that they will help you out, no matter what," she smiled, "they're plane experts, no matter where in the world you want to go, they will get you there. They also know this city like they know each other, and know almost every permanent resident, bird or otherwise, and can usually point you in the right direction to whatever it is you need."

Nico smiled, "they sound like guys I could get along with," he paused, looking over at the pair, who had found a couple of matches. A worrying combination from what he had seen so far, "you know, if they weren't constantly trying to kill us."

Both canary and dove snapped their heads in the owl's direction when they heard the sound of a flame being lit.

"NO!"

* * *

><p>Eight birds perched on the rooftop of a old stone building almost completely covered in ivy and flowers. Each were reacting in their own way to the situation at hand.<p>

One, the rather large pigeon was looking on with pure horror, beak dropped open and mind completely blank. There were two starlings, a mother and daughter, who were holding each other tightly, the older covering the younger's eyes with a wing. A tiny robin looked almost close to tears. The pair of owls watched, their expressions torn between horror and amusement. One young dove had her head in her wing, her body language showing her exasperation clear to any onlookers. And finally a canary sat on the end, eyes wide and shocked, yet for some reason he could feel laughter bubbling up inside of him, which he covered up with a rather ungraceful snort.

"Well," he said, looking across at the row of spectators and then back to the seven burnt buildings in front of them, each being tended to by countless firemen, "that was fun."

* * *

><p>Adriana winced softly as she bent over to pick up the bottle cap, once sat on a certain canary's head, now lying on the floor after being used as a Frisbee to try and decapitate at least one of the owls. She gingerly rubbed the slightly singed spot on her wing as she watched a dripping wet canary tackle both owls to the ground and then promptly sit on them.<p>

Just another normal day.

After the fire, those staying with the owls helped them set up a new place in the empty attic of a deserted Roman villa situated in the middle of one of the many ancient ruins in the city. It was specifically chosen as it had no neighbours to disturb and no humans around to try and get rid of them (Which has apparently happened on several occasions).

With an amused sigh, Adriana wondered over to the trio and placed the cap back on Nico's head. He gave her a quick grin before glaring back at the pair below him. Adriana briefly wondered why they hadn't thrown the canary off yet, he was after all, half their size and weighed almost nothing. She shrugged it off, grinning in return before hopping back to her nest and lying down. Of the six birds that had been there when their original home had been burnt to ash, her and Nico were the only ones left, though they had taken on a purple martin who was migrating back to central USA after spending his winter with friends in South Africa, a female woodpecker who was beginning to drive them all insane and a seagull who generally kept to himself, only appearing when he wanted to sleep and spending the rest of the time out and about. They guessed he was on holiday or something.

Nico had decided, once he was absolutely sure Joe and Josh could put him on a plane back home, to hang around for a little while, to see the sights, enjoy the warm weather and hang out with Adriana a bit more before heading home. He had already been gone so long he'd said, one more week couldn't hurt. Adriana had nodded and grinned at this, happy to spend a little longer with someone who actually spoke her language rather than attempt to understand her broken English.

But despite this she sensed there was something more keeping him here. Something darker. He always seemed to be looking out for something when out and around the city, and he seemed to be constantly jumpy.

She decided not to say anything, hoping that maybe he would come clean on his own, or he just had a really good reason for not saying anything. He was probably just missing home.

But it had been five days since the fire now, and the dove was beginning to worry about him. She couldn't keep her mind off what he was so scared of, and her imagination constantly ran away with her, imagining the worst.

One day later, on a grey Saturday afternoon, she got her answer.

She had spent most of the morning sleeping, for once not having been woken up by some random musical instrument, someone screaming or loud cackling. This alone should have been enough to worry her, but she just shook it off, since there hadn't been any new arrivals recently and Joe and Josh seemed to always be downstairs, tinkering away at some project for two days now. She could faintly hear them when she woke up around midday. She had decided to spend the rest of the day just slumming it around the house when a yellow blur shot past and crashed into the nest at the far end of the attic.

"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, seeing Nico collapse over the nest, head falling limply over the end closest to her as he panted heavily, expression panicked and terrified. "What in the name of hell was that all about?"

Nico lifted a wing, trying to get some form of a word out, but he was still struggling to breathe properly, much less talk.

"Got to...Gotta go..." he gasped, trying to push himself up with shaky wings, failing miserably as he fell back, still breathing heavily. Adriana quickly hopped over to him, helping him to sit up so he could catch his breath. She looked into his eyes, which were wide and frightened, and, if she looked hard enough, defiant. But why?

She swore, loudly, when something began scratching at the small entrance way, a small hole covered in a thin piece of fabric. It sounded like claws against stone, and she nearly screamed when she saw the talons of a bird probably more than ten times her size reach through, searching blindly.

"Nico, tell me what on earth is going on! Right now!" she hissed out of the side of her beak not taking her eyes off the hole.

"It's- It's a very long story," Nico said, having finally caught his breath enough to speak in full sentences, "far too long to discuss now, but I can tell you this; we need to get out, and we need to get out now!"

"Hey! Can someone please tell us,"

"Why there's a homicidal eagle trying to tear down the building?" Nico and Adriana snapped their heads to a trapdoor in the floor with the heads of two owls poking out of it, both looking a little worried, but excited at the same time.

"Long story, come on!" Nico grabbed the dove's wing and practically threw her into the hole, before jumping through himself. Turns out a pair of owls served as a pretty good crash mat. Adriana didn't bother apologizing as she clambered off them, considering all the things they had done to her the past fortnight, but she did offer a wing to help them up. Once they were all on their feet Nico turned to them, looking rather determined.

"You two," he said, pointing at the twins, "I need two things, a way out of here that means we won't be caught, and the next plane back to Rio!"

Joe and Josh glanced at each other, then back at him.

"The next plane's not for another four hours," Josh told him, his expression apologetic.

"Good enough, I'm sure I can hide out somewhere while I'm waiting."

"Nico," Adriana tried to cut in, as she tried to find out what was even going on.

"But we have a way out," Joe said, grinning excitedly, "we always put in an escape tunnel when we move into a new place, we tend to annoy people."

"And sometimes they try to come after us," Josh finished, "it's not completely finished, but it comes out just outside the ruins, but it's not stable, it's only got a few supports."

"That'll have to do," Nico stressed, before the four of them jumped as something crashed from upstairs, sending down a lot of dust to settle on the birds below. They all looked up, all looking a bit scared now, even the twins.

"Alright," Joe said slowly, eyes wide.

"Let's go!" Josh exclaimed, before darting into a hole in the wall close by, his brother following close behind. Adriana looked at the canary standing next to her, seeing his expression of doubt and worry, and feeling the exact same way. They heard another crash, and something fell past the window on the other side of the room making them both flinch. With one glance at each other they shot through the hole.

They found themselves shrouded in darkness from the moment they stepped through the gap. The only light was from the hole, but it didn't do much to light up the sloping tunnel ahead of them.

"I don't want to know," Nico muttered, placing one wing on the wall and beginning to start down, but was stopped by a sudden wing on his shoulder. Adriana stood directly behind him, her expression serious.

"What's going on Nico?" she asked, looking expectant. The canary took one look and realised he wasn't getting out of this one.

"It's a long story, but when I was in Paris, I helped out a few friends who had gotten themselves captured by this guy," he indicated upwards with his head, "and managed to seriously piss him off in the process. He now pretty much wants my head on a platter, and I'm fairly sure he's willing to do anything to see it happen."

Adriana frowned, grimacing, "oh, sucks to be you," she said nonchalantly, raising her eyebrows, and passing him to head down the tunnel.

"Wait!" Nico called after her, sounding shocked, and Adriana couldn't help but smirk. While it may not be to the extent he had done it, she had her fair share of making other birds angry and to be honest, it wasn't as bad as she was imagining. "That's it?"

"Yup, now I know what we're up against, that's all I want to know." She held back a snort at the disgruntled mutterings from behind her.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, twisting and turning and neither of them could see a thing. Not even a wing right in front of their eyes. After some time Adriana slowed a little and took Nico's wing in hers, murmuring something about getting lost and not wanting to lose him after all the effort she had gone through for him, though she could practically feel him grinning mockingly when she said that.

It took them around half an hour before they saw daylight again, and they could hear Joe and Josh talking quickly in Italian.

They emerged to a busy city street and two owls practically launching themselves at them, babbling something, still in Italian. From there it took them what would have been an hour's flight, two and a half hours to reach the airport, since they were constantly ducking into corners and under shelter whenever they caught a glimpse of the eagle above them.

* * *

><p>"So this is it huh?" Nico said as they watched the planes land and take off.<p>

"Uh huh," the twins monotoned simultaneously, nodding as one.

Nico turned to Adriana, his expression a mixture of sadness and joy. "Well, my plane's about to leave," he said, sniffing a little, trying to cover it up with a cough, "so, I suppose," he paused, looking at the plane the twins now seemed to be dancing around, the one that would take him home, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Adriana smiled, somewhat shakily, but he chalked that down to the long flight and a severe lack of blood sugar.

"Come and visit for carnival one day," he said, "it's the biggest party in the world, you'll love it."

"I'm sure I will," Adriana grinned, "Maybe in a few years." The pair looked over to where the twins were standing not too far away, yelling something at them in English. Though what neither could quite make out.

"I think it's time for me to go," Nico couldn't help but chuckle at the twins frantic jumping and waving, if they weren't smiling he would be worried something was wrong. Adriana turned back to him, smiling shyly and looking at the floor. Then, without warning, she darted forward, wrapping her wings around him in a tight hug.

"Get home safe," she whispered, pulling back, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she did so. Ignoring the shocked look on Nico's face, she stepped aside, taking off to go and perch on a sign some distance away to watch the take off. Nico shook his head, fixing his cap more firmly on his head and quickly flew over to the twins.

"Well, I'll be off then," Nico said, looking up at the vast plane, "I would say see you around, but I kinda hope we don't, unless you're planning on dropping the pranks," he grinned at their over-dramatic shocked and hurt faces.

"Well then," Josh said, sniffing loudly while his brother faked a sob, "if you go up there," he pointed to the door they were loading the luggage though, "there should be a compartment they tend to put the pets in that is locked and the air pressure stabilised."

"They always make sure it's locked, even if there are no animals on board," Joe continued, "So you should be safe in there, you better hurry though."

Nico smiled, nodding. "Thanks you two," he said, "despite everything, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Just go!"

* * *

><p>"Is that plane going in the right direction?"<p>

"Don't worry, they all take off going that way, it'll turn around in a moment."

"..."

"Joe, it's not turning round."

"Why is it not turning around, Brazil is the other way."

"We_ did_ put him on the right plane, right?"

"I think so."

"You're sure that wasn't the plane coming _FROM_ Brazil?"

"Maybe?"

Adriana dropped her head into her wings, groaning. She may not speak the best English in the world, but she understood the gist of the conversation.

"I am going to kill you two."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I was originally going to leave this for a little bit, since I'm working a lot over the next few weeks, and I generally have a lot going on. But I started writing this a few nights ago and I just couldn't stop, and since I had a free afternoon I thought I might as well finish it :) **

**On to the actual chapter: I really like how this one turned out, despite not following my plan at all (I wanted it to go a different way, but the characters didn't listen D:) And I have absolutely fallen in love with Adriana. She wasn't meant to appear here. In fact I hadn't planned her at all, she just sort of appeared out of nowhere, but I definitely think she added something that was missing in the original draft. **

**I hope you enjoyed, and for those of you who are interested, I'm currently working on a prequel oneshot type thing of how Nico came to Rio and met Pedro etc. in relation to what I've written in this story** (see chapter 4 for more details).** It's being written up by hand in my notebook first, so it may take a while. As usual, any and all reviews are welcome, I always love hearing what you think, good or bad :) **


	9. The Rain

"RAFAEL!"

Several birds scattered at the bark echoing through the square, and even more so when the large bulldog skidded around the corner and almost careered into a stack of boxes, missing them by barely an inch. He righted himself, shaking his head as he looked around the quickly emptying square, people and birds alike backing away quickly. Some of the humans looked about ready to call the animal shelter, so Luiz calmed down, sitting as he looked around for his toucan friend.

"What's wrong?" came the voice of said toucan from somewhere above him, and the bulldog looked up to see Rafael perched on one of the boxes, looking down at him expectantly.

"You have to come with me, my brother emailed me from his owner's computer in Paris, it's important you see it, right now!" Luiz told him, bouncing on his front paws excitedly as a hug grin found its way to his face.

* * *

><p>The speed in which Rafael flew towards the macaws hollow was one that had never been seen before in the jungle of Rio de Janiero, and he almost didn't slow down in time, causing him to almost fall off the branch he intended to land on because of the momentum. Of course 'almost' is the term he uses, anyone else, unless under the toucan's watchful eye, would most likely tell you that he did fall off, though he caught himself before he hit the pond below.<p>

"Rafael?" Blu's voice came from the entrance to their home as he looked on worriedly.

"I'm fine," the toucan replied, landing properly and slowly this time, smoothing down his slightly ruffled feathers, "I'm fine, is Pedro in?" He sounded eager and excited, but Blu picked up the hint of nervousness and doubt in his voice that was rarely heard in the older bird.

"And what could you possibly want with my amazing self?" Pedro's voice was heard, his smirking head poking out from behind Blu only seconds later.

"Paris," Rafael blurted out before he could stop himself, smiling wide, though this was not mirrored in the other's faces, which had dropped into ones of confusion as the pair looked at each other, shrugged, then back at the Toucan, who was trying to breathe normally again after his manic flight.

"Lovely place, always wanted to go there one day, why?" Blu said, raising an eyebrow at Rafael's momentary lapse of 'cool'.

"Go in, I have something to say," Rafael told them, shooing them inside like he would his children. They met Jewel inside, who was also moved along deeper into the hollow and sat next to her Husband and Pedro looking even more confused than the other two.

"Well?" Pedro urged, "you wanted to say something?"

"Yes," Rafael started, taking a deep breath, "I just had Luiz come and find me, he had an email from his brother in Paris, apparently it's the only way to keep in contact or something, but he'd been asked to send a message to us by a friend of his on behalf of a little injured bird she'd found several weeks beforehand."

Jewel realised what he was talking about instantly, and was on her feet in seconds. "Is he okay?" she asked, wide eyed.

"Absolutely fine, no lasting damage, and he's on his way back to Rio right now."

"What?" Both Pedro and Blu jumped to their feet as they finally understood.

"You mean Nico? He's okay?"Pedro asked eagerly, hardly daring to hope.

Rafael nodded, smiling, "as far as we know, but bear in mind, Luiz is rarely able to check his mail, and this message was sent nearly two weeks ago, any number of things could have happened since then," he noticed the cardinal's face begin to drop, "but he did also mention not getting a plane, so this means he would have had to take the long way, flying on his own. This could take anything from a couple of weeks to a month or so, we really don't know what to expect and the best we can do is just wait and hope."

Pedro's wide grin dropped completely as he stared at Rafael with an unreadable expression.

"That's all we'll ever do isn't it?" he said quietly, averting his gaze. There were a few seconds of silence, but just as Blu was about to take a step forwards to comfort the smaller bird he took off, speeding out the hollow and darting through the trees.

There was a moment of shocked silence as the three birds left in the hollow stared at the spot the young cardinal was once standing in. Then, without a word, Rafael quickly ran for the entrance and took off the moment he was in the open, racing after Pedro.

He almost wasn't surprised at where the cardinal flew to, despite not even being looked at for a good two months now. But when Rafael landed on the branch outside Pedro and Nico's home he stopped, gathering his own emotions together and locking them in the back of his mind before stepping inside. He had to be strong.

"Pedro?"

His only response was a loud sniff from a dark corner near the back of the hollow. Rafael sighed, shaking his head as he walked further into the darkening hollow.

"Are you alright?"

"Stupid question," was the scoffed reply. Rafael couldn't help but agree, Nico's capture had shaken them all to the core, and he knew things would never be the same again, especially if the worst happened. Pedro seemed to be handling things well enough, but anyone could tell that the worry was eating him up inside, and with no emotional output now he had stopped singing, it was building up, and just about ready to explode.

"True," Rafael agreed, nodding, "but I guess what I'm trying to ask, is for you to tell me why you're not alright."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Yes, it is," Rafael said, sitting down next to the miserable cardinal, "but I think you need the release, you've been holding everything in for weeks and it's reached boiling point. You've stopped singing, which is your usual relief, so talk it out, tell me everything. You'll feel better for it."

"How does that work?" Pedro asked, looking genuinely confused. Rafael smiled, settling down so he was comfortable.

"When you feel something bad, you tend to bottle it up, so holding in your anger, sadness, pain, without letting it out, can sometimes lead to an explosion of emotions a bit further down the line. Have you ever seen Nico get angry? And I mean properly angry." Pedro shook his head, "of course not, while he always has that calm and collected attitude, he's really bottling up any bad emotions inside, whereas you tend to let them loose almost immediately. But I've seen him practically blow up in a mess of emotion before, and while it's rare, it's never pretty."

Pedro looked down at his feet, frowning.

"If you don't let it out, and soon, chances are you'll let it out at a bad time, and most likely say some things you'll regret, and while that happens to the best of people, it's best to avoid it when you can."

"So what do you want me to do?" Pedro looked up, eyes questioning.

"Whatever you feel like doing," Rafael replied simply.

It took him a while to get over the sudden temporary mind blank and dry mouth, but once he started talking, all his emotions spilled out like a waterfall. He talked of his anger, at the poachers, for taking his friend in the first place, and at himself, for not doing more when it happened, for not forcing the bird out of bed that morning and dragging his butt to the beach with everyone else, for not preventing it. He talked about how much he missed him, how scared he was for him, off somewhere thousands of miles away, not having anyone to rely on, to lean on, that could protect him. He talked about how worried he was, that two months had gone by now, and all the other birds were back or accounted for, but almost nothing was heard about Nico, save one message sent nearly two weeks previously. And finally he talked about how much he hated this helpless feeling, how much he despised not being able to do anything, having to sit here and just wait, not knowing if he was okay, or even alive, and that if something did happen, chances are they would never know.

Rafael sat and listened patiently, nodding and encouraging him along when he needed to. As he spoke, the older bird could practically see the tension rolling off him as he visibly relaxed. It took an hour and a half of almost constant chatter before the cardinal even began to slow down. Eventually he finished his speech, and fell back against the wall, exhausted.

"Feeling better?" Rafael asked with a small smile.

Pedro looked thoughtful for a few moments, before raising his eyebrows with a surprised expression. "Actually I am," he said, sounding a little shocked.

"See, I told you," Rafael grinned, ruffling the smaller birds crest. "Now I don't want you to worry anymore okay. Nico was raised well," this elicited a snort from Pedro, "and he's not one to keep us waiting, so whatever's keeping him must be important."

"I guess so," Pedro said, nodding slowly.

Rafael chuckled, "and for all we know, he's probably out there, seeing the world, surrounded by girls and having the time of his life."

* * *

><p>Well, it wasn't Rio.<p>

Nico was fairly sure he wasn't even in South America, much less Brazil.

Not only that, but it was raining, and he had just gotten off one of the worst flights of his life. He swore that even though he still felt like throwing up, there was nothing left in his stomach to come up. How could a bird even get airsick?

It probably didn't help that he barely ate anything before he left Italy.

He pushed down the feeling of Nausea building up again and took off towards the airport building, in hope he could find out just where he was and maybe try and force down some food.

* * *

><p>Shanghai.<p>

They had sent him to freaking China.

"If I ever get hold of those bloody owls," he growled, the unspoken threat hanging in the air. With a sigh he pushed off the railing just outside the airport, taking off into the air. He was certainly not getting on another plane, so there was only one thing left to do.

Keep flying.

But first things first, he needed food and a long drink to get the vile taste out of his mouth. At least he didn't have to worry about taking a bath, he was soaked through and the rain didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. If anything it was heavier than before.

Eventually he found a dry spot under the canopy of a small building in a park area further into the city. There he settled down with some berries he had found, shivering in the cold as he watched the rain fall and the lightning split the sky.

When he woke up what felt like only minutes later, he wasn't where he fell asleep. Again. With a groan he pushed himself up, looking around the strange room. Unlike London, this was a very simple room, a bed lining one wall, with a plain fireplace across from him, a small fire lit, lighting up the dark room. He briefly wondered what time it was, but the more pressing question of where he was over powered that one by a mile.

He could hear the rain still pattering on the rooftop, lighter now, the thunder and lightning long passed. Somehow, he felt worse than he did when he was on the plane, though the urge to throw up wasn't quite as strong. His head hurt, he couldn't breathe properly through his nose and he had next to no energy, despite being asleep.

Then, without any physical warning, he sneezed. Loudly.

But what really made him jump was the sudden movement from the dark corner and he scrambled back, more out of instinct than real fear. His logical side of his mind told him that if anyone wanted to hurt him they would've done so already. He moved back a little too far and fell out of the temporary nest that had been made for him, hitting hard wood with a small 'thump'.

"Wǒ bù huì shānghài nǐ, lěngjìng xiàlái," came a soft voice, and Nico lifted his head, an action he quickly regretted when a sharp pain shot through, to see who had spoken. Emerging from the shadows was a tall bird, mostly white, with a black tail and neck and a red crown. The bird had long legs and an even longer neck, making him well over a metre tall. He had kind brown eyes and a worried smile on his long beak.

"Who-who-" Nico tried to ask, stuttering slightly, but was cut off by another sudden sneeze.

"American?" The tall bird asked.

"Brazilian actually," Nico said, sniffing.

"Ah, but you speak English?" the crane asked, his voice deep but gentle, and the way he had to think about the words made it sound as if his English wasn't very good.

"Yes."

"Good, good, my name Hong-Xian, you?" He asked, approaching the simple wooden shelf Nico was sat on in a gap between several books.

"Nico," the canary replied, smiling, "where am I?" he asked, looking around the small room.

"My home," Hong-Xian told him, "I find you in the rain, shivering, so I bring you home before you catch cold."

As if to prove a point, Nico sneezed again, loudly.

"Seems I too late," the crane chuckled. Nico simply groaned, crawling back into his nest made from material scraps, pulling one large bit over his body.

"It's okay, thank you for getting me out of the rain," Hong-Xian smiled in reply, "what time is it?"

"Eight o'clock in the evening."

"Really?" Nico said, looking a little shocked, "it doesn't feel like it."

"Well, you have been sleeping all day," Hong-Xian pointed out.

"And time difference," Nico realised, dropping his head into his wing, "great, as if my sleeping pattern isn't messed up enough." It was only then that he realised just how much all this travelling had affected him and he momentarily wondered what his sleeping pattern was going be like when he got back to Rio.

If he got back to Rio.

He let out a small groan as he fell back into his nest. Someone up there was extremely determined to make sure his journey home was as difficult as possible.

"So why you out in the rain?" Hong-Xian's voice drew him out of his inner monologue.

"I had nowhere else to go," Nico told him, sitting up, "I'm trying to get home to Rio, but I was put on the wrong plane."

"You want another plane?"

"NO!" Nico exclaimed, looking somewhat panicked. He took a deep breath, calming down at the crane's questioning gaze, "I got very sick last time, I want to avoid them if I can, keep flying East I suppose."

"Why were you away from home?"

"Bird Poachers, I was kidnapped, taken to London, and escaped there. Getting back hasn't been easy so far."

They spent the rest of the evening discussing each other's lives. Nico told him about his journey so far, and of his home, of his friends and family. And then they switched to the Crane's life, and he found out that the tall bird had been alone for most of his life, after a brief romance that was cut short with illness several years ago, leaving him lonely. He learned to live with it, and eventually found the room they were staying in, an old man, a widower himself living there at the time, willingly taking the crane in after he was injured after a bad fall. The old man had died not that long ago, but no one had been in to remove his possessions or move in so Hong-Xian had stayed, as it was a warm and dry place to sleep. He didn't have any friends to speak of, but was well liked in the neighbourhood.

Eventually, Hong-Xian fell asleep, living Nico to his thoughts as he tried to get to sleep as well.

Another week. At least. He had managed to catch the flu, and right now felt in no shape to do anything other than curl up and sleep for several days. How in the world did he manage to fall asleep out there he wondered, listening to the light patter of rain on the tiled roof. It was cold, and he was soaked. Now he was stuck here, with no form of contact to Rio to tell them what had happened. This is what you get for attempting to have a relaxing few days in Rome. He should of just taken the first plane back when the owls offered.

But there was nothing he could do about it now. He was here now, and despite feeling very sick, he might as well make the most of it. He had a few days, he could relax as he got better, maybe get out and see some sights, and during that time he could plan out a route home, hopefully without anymore lengthy stops. If all goes well he could be home within a month, two at the latest.

With this reborn hope, Nico finally managed to get back to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next week was a blur. Nico slept through most of the first half, having gotten worse, waking only long enough to either force food down or throw it back up. After several days of rest he was finally beginning to feel well enough to get out of the room for a bit, though not quite enough to fly for longer than around ten minutes. Hong-Xian, after much convincing, agreed to take the much smaller bird on a from-the-air tour of the city, the canary sitting on his head while the crane showed him all the main sights and told him about some of the history. He even learned a small amount of Chinese (Though if asked several hours later, he would have most likely forgotten it).<p>

In between, Hong-Xian pulled out some old world maps and helped the yellow bird plan a route. From Shanghai, he planned to find a boat across to Japan, fly across, or land on a train if he was feeling lazy, to Tokyo. And then across the Pacific, probably stopping around Hawaii, to the east coast of South America, and then finally across to Rio De Janeiro.

By the end of the week, Nico was flying strong once more, despite still constantly sneezing, which was apparently a rather amusing sight when he was flying.

The weather had improved vastly from his first impression of China, and by the time the time came for him to move on just over a week later the temperature had reached a gorgeous 24 degrees and the skies were clear and blue.

"Don't go sleeping in rain again, okay?" Hong-Xian warned him, the smaller bird chuckling in response as he slipped on another pack made of scrap material, to replace his other one left in Rome.

"Don't worry, I won't be making that mistake again," he grinned up at the softly smiling crane, "It'll be five star hotels from now on, I promise," he joked, laughing at the blank expression on the birds face. "I promise I won't be sleeping in the rain, I will properly dry off before any form of sleep occurs," he said solemnly, his expression completely serious, though anyone could see the grin threatening to break through.

"Just be careful," the tall bird said, the serene smile once more appearing, "you have a long journey ahead, and it will be dangerous, especially for small bird."

Nico would usually argue this, despite being the smallest in his immediate group of friends, he didn't like to be reminded of his tiny size. But when stood next to a bird the size of Hong-Xian, he simply could not find the will to protest. Nearly every bird he knew would be small next to him.

"I will," Nico smiled, though this was quickly wiped off his face when the ship he was meant to be getting on blared it's horn so loudly he almost jumped out of his feathers. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself, turning back to Hong-Xian, who was chuckling into his wing.

Once the taller bird had calmed down and the smaller was breathing normally once more they both turned towards the boat.

"Thank you," Nico said softly, "for helping me."

"You are very welcome," Hong-Xian replied, looking down at the small bird.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye?" the canary said, suddenly feeling very awkward. He hated saying goodbye. It was alright when you knew you were going to see them again, but in situations like this he always felt incredibly uncomfortable and tongue-tied, never knowing exactly what to say.

"Not forever my friend," Hong-Xian murmured. Nico was so stunned at this answer his head snapped up, eyes wide. Not exactly the response he had expected. Sensing that no more was to be said on the matter, he shook it off, assuming it was some Chinese belief or something of the like.

He shook his head, and with one last smile and tip of the hat, he flew up to the roof of the small ferry, settling down on the railings.

He was on the move once more.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Meh...**

**I can't really think of much to say here, not my best, but I've written and rewritten so many times now I can't bring myself to care. So I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, good or bad, and tell me what you thought :)**

**Also, while I'm here, for those of you who maybe haven't seen, my prequel to this story, 'Taking The World By Storm' has been posted, please do take a look and perhaps drop a review over there too :) **


	10. The City

**A/N: Just a quick disclaimer: I own nothing in this story save my original Characters and the plot line. None of the songs in this chapter are owned by me, they are both owned by their respective owners.**

* * *

><p>It was the beginning of June by the time Nico had flown the five hundred miles from Nagasaki to Tokyo. The weather had improved vastly and the late afternoon sun was shining warmly down on him as the Metropolis came into view. Fluttering to a stop he landed on top of a tall building and took in the sight. Vast skyscrapers lined the horizon from his viewpoint, and when he turned around, Mount Fuji rising higher than all of them. He had flown over more houses than he could possibly count, and he was now heading for the central city. If anyone could help him, they would be there.<p>

It had been just over a month since he had sent the message from Paris, and he remembered rumours of a club in downtown Rio that had connections with various cities and countries around the world, Barcelona, Ibiza, Jamaica, and he vaguely remembered someone mentioning Tokyo. So if he could, he was going to find it, and hopefully see if he could get another message out, let them know he was okay, that he'd had a small hiccup in his plans (Namely being sent to China of all places) and that it might take a bit longer than expected to get back. And that he would, without a doubt, do his absolute best to get home as soon as he possibly could.

But there was one problem.

Tokyo was huge.

The biggest city in the world. How in the world was he going to find one little bird club? He didn't even know where to start.

There was only one thing to do. He gave himself a time limit of two days, and asked everywhere, looking around every street, hoping he might come across some clue. He found out that it did exist, and there were connections to Rio. But the problem was it moved every few weeks, and no one he had talked to knew where the current location was.

The name of the place was 'Rumours', named as unless you were connected in some way to the owners, that's all it ever was, a rumour. Everyone knew about it, but no one knew where it was, and the one or two who did refused to say where it was, no matter how desperate the canary sounded. It was a totally exclusive scene.

By the end of the second day, he was exhausted. He slumped, hat falling over his eyes, against the trunk of a tree in a park somewhere near Shinjuku. He looked up, sliding down to sit on the branch, through the leaves at the tall skyscrapers lining the sky, the setting sun reflecting off the glass.

So, getting a message home was hopeless, now what?

"Time to move on I guess," he muttered glumly to himself, moving his gaze down to the people walking below him. Families, children, friends, couples walking hand-in-hand. It was all very familiar, yet so, so different. Back in Rio he enjoyed watching the humans, watching how similar they were to them, and yet so diverse. While you often found lots of birds who looked exactly the same, it was nearly impossible to find the same in humans. And here was no different. Maybe even more so. People in Rio tended to stick to a similar fashion trend, in Japan there were so many different styles, and Nico couldn't help but be amazed at the diversity of it all.

"Are you Nico?" A melodic female voice suddenly sounded, drawing him out of his thoughts. He snapped his head up to see an extremely colourful bird. She wasn't that much bigger than him, most of her feathers were a purple-y blue, with a red chest and streak down her back. The tips of her wing feathers and tail were a shiny blue-black. But what stuck out the most about her was the bright purple eyes and the collection of brightly coloured feathers strung with equally bright beads attached to several feathers on top of her head so they hung down one side of her face.

"Yes?" the canary replied, looking at her curiously, eyes narrowed.

"You don't sound so sure about that," the bird smirked, tilting her head.

"Yes," he said with more confidence, nodding slowly, "how do you know who I am?"

"I hear things," her smirk grew bigger, shrugging. Nico stood, not once taking his eyes off her, a suspicious look passing over his face.

"What sort of things?" He asked.

"You're looking for 'Rumours'," she said, taking a step closer.

Nico tried to take a step back, but found he couldn't, he was pressed against the bark of the tree trunk. "Maybe," he replied, looking around for a way out of what was threatening to become a rather challenging situation. Especially if she got any closer.

Which she did.

"How do you know about 'Rumours'?" She asked, taking a few more steps closer.

"I hear things," Nico couldn't help but smirk as her eyebrows raised and she stepped back. She grinned, eyes lighting up as a laugh escaped her beak.

"My name's Miyoko, I own the Tokyo branch of 'Rumours' and I hear you want to establish a connection with our dear friends in Rio," she told him, trying to hold in her laughter as his expression went from suspicious to shocked and wide-eyed. "It's a long story, perhaps you'd better come with me, I'll explain everything there."

Nico nodded dumbly, trying to stop his beak from dropping open as they took off, and she led him through the city north, until they reached The University of Tokyo. They flew round the back of one of the buildings, the auditorium according to Miyoko, and through a metal door that led to a flight of stairs leading down. At the bottom was what appeared to be a locked door. They landed and pushed through a flap at the bottom of the door. Inside was what looked like a recording studio, but one that hadn't been in use for what seemed to be years. Nico could see lights and several birds flying inside the recording room, but could hear no sound.

"The humans haven't been down here in years," Miyoko explained, "and that room is big enough and completely soundproof, all that stuff you may have heard about us moving around? Yeah, total lies," she grinned, leading him not towards the party but to a small laptop on a table at the back of the room. Once landed, she turned to face him.

"Okay, so here's the thing," she started, and Nico turned his full attention on her, "I can get a connection with the club in Rio, but I have a few conditions."

"What? Oh, come on," Nico cut her off, sounding exasperated.

"Hang on, it's not much," Miyoko laughed, holding up her wings, "I've heard a lot about you little Nico," she smirked at the confused expression on her face, "and one of those things is that you are a damn good singer, so one of my conditions is that you sing with me, tomorrow night, and the other is you tell me your story."

"What?"

"Since you were taken," she explained, "I'm curious as to what you've been through."

"Hold on, hold on," Nico held up a wing, shaking his head in confusion, "how do you know all this?"

"Do you accept?"

Nico opened his beak to argue, but the words stopped in his throat at the look on her face. "Alright, I accept." It was the only way to get a message home. And the conditions weren't exactly steep.

Miyoko grinned, spinning around and pushing up the lid of the computer, before jumping on the start button. The computer whirred into life, the screen lighting up instantly, revealing a window that had a box with what appeared to be a live video feed showing a very familiar scene.

"Hey, that's..." Nico trailed off, staring at the Alley, empty, but still the club he used to perform at almost every night.

"Hey Martin, you there?" Miyoko called, her grin growing ever wider at the look on Nico's face as he peered over her shoulder. She mover her foot over the touchpad, and the video became full screen.

The face of a red-masked green parakeet suddenly filled the screen, scaring both birds on the other end so much they both fell backwards. Although, Nico still claims it was Miyoko who jumped back, and he just happened to be right behind her.

"Miyoko-chan?" the familiar face asked, taking some steps back after he adjusted the camera, "and wow, is that you Nico?"

The canary was frozen, wide-eyed and open-beaked. He couldn't find the words to say. There was a chance. A chance of actually seeing his family, of letting them know directly that he was okay, and not just sending a message and hoping it got there. This time it was certain. That and he was face to face with Martin, an old friend of Rafael's. He briefly wondered if the Toucan knew anything about the secret club.

"Yeah, it is," Miyoko replied for him, chuckling at the canary's reaction, "found him wondering the city earlier."

"Martin?" Nico asked, finding his voice at last, "you...you..."

"Own Rio's 'Rumours'? Yes, yes I do," the parakeet grinned, mock bowing, "No, Rafael doesn't know anything about it, nor does he know that as soon as I heard his oldest son had gone missing I sent out a message to all clubs around the world to keep an eye out for a little yellow canary with a bottle cap."

"And guess what? We found you!" Miyoko smiled, "I heard you were in the city this morning and quickly let Martin know, before going out to find you."

"So I set up a webcam here in the Alley, which will be mainly hidden, since I hear rumours of your family working on a song, just for you."

"What?" Nico exclaimed, taking a step forward past Miyoko.

"They're meant to be the last act tonight, and since it's Tuesday will be around six, since you know we close early on Tuesday's."

Ah yes, Tuesday. Universal Rio 'family night'. The one night a week he usually spent trying to deal with seventeen younger siblings, all of which were bigger than him. And something he missed a lot. Despite there being a lot of them, and it being so incredibly manic, being surrounded by family, especially family who loved him more than anything, despite his differences, was the most amazing feeling in the world.

"Wait a minute," Nico cut him off, a thought suddenly coming to the front of his mind, "What's the time difference between here and there?" He asked, suddenly rather anxious.

"Um, twelve hours," Miyoko replied, looking to Martin for confirmation.

"We're twelve hours behind you," he said, "it's seven in the morning here."

"So in order to watch this performance, I'm going to have to be up before six o'clock in the morning?" Nico asked. If he could, Martin would have paled as realisation hit. He heard stories, rumours of what he was like in the mornings.

"What's wrong with that?" Miyoko asked, looking between one shocked face and one distraught face.

"Let's just say I'm not a morning person," Nico replied, a grim smile appearing on his beak.

"Have copious amounts of coffee on standby," Martin suggested, "and be gentle, no sudden movements."

Nico turned to glare at the camera, crossing his wings over his chest.

"Roger that," Miyoko grinned, saluting, "you probably will be wanting an early night then," she said, turning to the canary, "we can discuss your 'conditions' in the morning."

"Alright," Nico agreed.

"See that hole up there," Miyoko pointed to a smallish hole in the top corner of the room, "Go through there, that's where me and my sisters live. There's always several spare nests for guests, I would go for the one in the far right hand corner, and I'll make sure they're quiet when they come in."

"Thanks," Nico smiled, both at her and Martin, who was gesturing wildly to someone off screen, before fluttering up to the hole and slipping through.

Within ten minutes of settling in the nest, he was fast asleep.

* * *

><p>"Do we have to do this? It's not like he's going to see it."<p>

"Yes sweetie, and it's not who sees it, it's the thought and the feelings behind it."

"But I-"

"Go on, we're up in five minutes," Jewel shooed the cardinal backstage, where Rafael, Blu and kids from both families were waiting, talking in hushed tones. They stopped when the two birds stepped into the area, looking over. Rafael gave them a soft smile and gestured to the stage.

"It's our show now," he said, putting a wing around the smaller bird.

"Let's show 'em we're not giving up," Jewel added, stepping to his other side, Blu next to her.

"Never."

* * *

><p>"I hate you all," Nico complained, sitting on an empty stage in the recording room. It was sort of eerie, seeing all the lighting and sound equipment, but no one else around but him, Miyoko and Martin on the screen. This time, the video was split into two screens, Martin on one, and the crowded alley on the other. Some performance or other was happening on the latter, the camera at a perfect angle, showing all of the stage. But there was no sound.<p>

"I know you do sweetie," Miyoko cooed from her position in front of the computer.

"It's five thirty in the morning," Nico carried on, ignoring her completely, "there's a reason everyone else is still asleep, it's practically the middle of the night."

"I know hun, now shush a minute," Miyoko said, shaking her head. Even she looked rather dazed, not having had time to smooth down her feathers or untangle her headpiece. Nico shut up, yawning widely and pulling his blanket tighter around him.

"Is everything okay?" the parakeet on the screen asked, looking concerned.

"I can't seem to get any sound for the other video," Miyoko explained, fiddling around with the touchpad and keys, "I've got you fine, but the other one is just silence."

"Have you tried actually clicking on the video, some versions will only allow sound for one at a time," Martin suggested, "that does mean you can't talk to me while that screen is up though."

"I'll give it a go," Miyoko said, moving the cursor and hitting a few buttons while Nico looked on curiously. Almost instantly music blared out of the speakers, along with the background chatter of the crowds. "Alright Nico, we are live," she called back, and instantly Nico was at her side, still looking sleepy but slightly more alert than before. "Loving your enthusiasm there boy, but I need to talk to Martin quickly, but don't worry, we won't be missing the performance."

Nico nodded, flopping back on the ground where he was.

Miyoko and Martin quickly went over some details, the laptop at The Alley was hidden for now, and Martin was going to head over there at the end to make sure they stick around until everyone had gone home, so Nico could talk to them in private.

This went on for about ten minutes, and Miyoko switched screens just as Rafael fluttered up to the stage.

Nico breath caught in his throat.

"Everyone," The toucan called, catching the crowd's attention easily, "I have something to say." The crowd went silent, and Nico couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He felt a wing on his back and faintly heard Miyoko telling him to breathe.

"As most of you probably know by now, nearly three months ago several hundred birds were taken and flown halfway round the world. Within weeks they were all back or accounted for, save one. No one really knows what happened to Nico, but we received word that he was in Paris about a month ago, but nothing has been heard since. This little number was Pedro's idea, and just a little something to say that we won't lose hope. Nico, wherever you are," he seemed to look right at the camera, and Nico thought for a moment he knew it was there, but the older birds eyes were slightly glazed over, and the canary knew he was simply staring into space. "Wherever you are, we will always be here for you, and we believe in you."

A lump had appeared in Nico's throat about halfway through his speech, and by the end he was close to crying, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Miyoko put a comforting wing around his shoulders, and he unconsciously leaned into her as Pedro, Jewel, Blu, and the kids, both the macaws and a few of Rafael's came onto the stage.

Jewel's voice was the first to sing, the younger birds harmonising behind her.

"_You're not alone, together we stand, I'll be by your side you know I'll take your hand,_" her sweet yet powerful voice rang clear over the silent audience. Blu stepped up next to her, and began to sing the next part.

"_And when it gets cold, and it feels like the end, there's no place to go you know I won't give in,_" despite the differences in their voices, they complimented each other as they sang together.

"_No I won't give in._"

As they reached the chorus, everyone joined in, including Pedro and Rafael.

"_Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through, just stay strong, 'cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you. There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do, there's no other way when it comes to the truth. So keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through._"

This time Pedro stepped forward, the macaws taking a step back.

"_So far away, I wish you were here, before it's too late this could all disappear,_" he sang, a slight wobble in his voice, but he caught himself just in time. Rafael stepped forward and they sang the next part together.

"_Before the doors close, and it comes to an end, with you by my side I will fight and defend. I'll fight and defend._"

"_Yeah, yeah_," Jewel sang, and they launched into the chorus once more.

"_Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through, just stay strong, 'cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you. There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do, there's no other way when it comes to the truth. So keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through._"

"_Hear me when I say, when I say I believe,_" Jewel and Pedro sang together, "_nothings gonna change, nothings gonna change destiny,_" They all seemed to be really getting into the song, belting out the lyrics like they thought if they sung loud enough it would reach him. They didn't know it did. "_Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly._"

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,_" Jewel belted out, before the music dropped, slower and quieter, with the kids 'la-ing' in the background.

"_Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through, just stay strong, 'cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you. There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do, there's no other way when it comes to the truth. So keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through."_

_"Keep holding on,_" Nico couldn't remember that last time he had heard Pedro really sing, really go at it, he always sang with him in the choruses but whenever there was a solo he would always be rapping. Here though was like they were seeing what his voice could really do. "_Keep holding on,_" once again, they all joined in and Nico could even hear some of the crowd joining in as they all stepped forward to form a line.

"_There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do, there's no other way when it comes to the truth. So keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through._"

The music faded, their voices seconds later, and all was silent.

About halfway through the song Nico's will had given out, and tears were streaming down his face as silent sobs shook his body, still unable to take his eyes off the screen.

"You alright hun?" Miyoko's soft voice broke through his shock, and he nodded slowly. She gave him a tight hug, "do you want to be alone for a bit?" He nodded again, trying to choke back the sobs. She gave him one final squeeze before standing. "I'll talk to Martin on the other computer, see if he can stall them long enough for you to calm down a little okay? Just let it out, however you feel best," and with that she flew out the room, making sure the door was firmly shut behind her.

The moment that door clicked shut Nico broke down, putting his face in his wings and opening crying, wracking sobs shaking his whole body. At the back of his memory, a song he had heard the day before came to mind, some of the lyrics were a bit out of place, but it fit everything he was feeling almost perfectly.

"_If anyone asks, I'll tell them we both just moved on,_" he started, his usually strong voice quiet and wavering, "_when people all stare, I'll pretend I don't hear them talk, whenever I see you, I'll swallow my pride and bite my tongue, pretend I'm okay with it all, act like there's nothing wrong._" It all came spilling out. All his pain, his fear, everything he had felt over the past few months that he had simply bottled inside like he always did instead of letting it out when he first felt it.

"_Is it over yet?_" Despite the fact he was still crying, his voice was stronger as he sang out his sadness and home sickness, "_Can I open my eyes? Is this as hard as it gets? Is this what it feels like to really cry?_" On the last line he stood up, really belting out the words. "_Cry._"

Outside, Miyoko was trying to get a hold of Martin but no one seemed to be there. She assumed he was heading for the Alley, and really hoped she could get his attention before he talked to Nico's family.

"Miyoko? You there?" the hushed tones of Martin drew her attention. She jumped.

"Yes, you have to wait, Nico needs a moment, he's a little hysterical," she said quickly, seeing the emptying club in the background, but the group who had sung were hanging around on the stage, talking, though she could faintly see tears in some of their eyes.

"I know, he's using an age-old method of getting his feeling out; singing. But I think they need to see this."

"What?" Miyoko asked, flipping the video to show the one from inside the recording room. What she saw absolutely broke her heart, but she could see where he was coming from. His family needed to see this. Maybe they could give him some comfort, even from so many thousands of miles away. "Alright, get their attention."

* * *

><p>On the other end of the line, Martin nodded, turning around to the now nearly empty club. Approaching the hugging family on the stage he cleared his throat, attracting their attention.<p>

"Martin?" Rafael asked, a small smile appearing on his face. A smile that quickly disappeared at the parakeet's expression."What's wrong?"

"Um, how do I put this?" Martin started, avoiding eye contact at first, "I have something to show you, and I'm sorry for not telling you before now, but I know where Nico is."

"What?" several voices cried at once, and both Rafael and Pedro shot from the stage, alert and eager.

"Where?" Pedro asked, looking like all he wanted to do was shake the bird, but restraining himself.

Martin turned around and walked to the laptop, uncovering it completely and taking a step back. "We've had him and Miyoko on webcam since the beginning of your performance. He saw the whole thing. We're sorry for not telling you, but we felt it was something he had to see. Just like we feel you should probably see this." And with one flick of a feather, the volume turned up, the canary's voice drifting into the room halfway through what sounded like another verse as they crowded round the screen.

"_Whenever I feel your memory is breaking my heart, I'll pretend that I'm okay with it all, act like there's nothing wrong._"

Pedro, Rafael and Jewel all had tears in their eyes the instant they heard his voice, and when Martin sorted the video so that it was working, it was like the room had stopped breathing. Yes it was only on a screen, only a video, but there, in front of them, was solid proof that he was okay. Right now. Not several weeks ago. Now.

"_Is it over yet?_" Even Blu was close to tears by this point, and some of the kids were crying as the group watched their uncle, brother, son and friend break down, singing through his tears, singing like it would save his life. "_Can I open my eyes? Is this as hard as it gets? Is this what it feels like to really cry?_"

Pedro was in tears, torn between being happy that his best friend was alive, or sad at the pain he seemed to be going through. Rafael put a wing around him, and he looked up to see the Toucan smiling, but crying too.

"_I'm talking in circles, I'm lying they know it, why won't this all go away?_" They watched, broken hearted as the canary dropped to the ground, sobbing. A blue and red bird suddenly appeared from the right side, pulling the small bird into a tight hug, rubbing circles on his back and whispering soothing words.

* * *

><p>"Let it out," the colourful bird soothed, pushing his head into her shoulder and taking his hat of his head as he broke down, "let it all out."<p>

"_Is it over yet?_" Nico sang, barely more than a whisper into Miyoko's shoulder, and she couldn't help but smile a little. He was a true performer, through and through, using the song to get his emotions out. "_Can I open my eyes? Is this as hard as it gets?_"

Oh she hoped so, watching this was hard enough, she did not want to see any worse.

"Is this...is this..." he trailed off, unable to continue. Miyoko stroked the feathers on his head and neck as he continued to cry into her shoulder. It wasn't too long before they began to die out, leaving him with the hiccups, but no more tears to cry. Miyoko pulled away, smiling softly.

"You alright now sweetheart?" she asked, gripping his shoulders as he swayed slightly, eyes still closed and hiccupping ever so often. He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Good, because look who came to see you," she grinned, turning his head to the screen, where his entire family was watching, tears in their eyes.

He was shocked for a moment, beak opening and closing as he tried to find the words to say.

"Oh bloody hell did you just see all that?" was the first thing that came to his head, and apparently the first thing that escaped his beak.

"Most of it," Jewel said, smiling as she wiped away her tears.

"Martin!" Nico scolded, "I know you're there."

The parakeet poked his head onto the screen. "It had to be done, sorry," He grinned, quickly darting away as he saw the glare aimed in his direction.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you guys!" Nico exclaimed once the green bird was out of view.

"And you have no idea how worried we've been about you," Pedro shot back, wiping his eyes but grinning wide. Nico laughed, a hiccup cutting it off, eliciting chuckles from both ends. "Where are you?"

"Tokyo," the canary replied, laughing a little at their reactions.

"How on earth did you end up there?" Rafael, who couldn't stop grinning, asked.

"It's a long story," Nico smiled, not particularly wanting to relive his journey just yet, "and you will hear it eventually, but first I want to hear all about you, and those other birds, did they get back okay?" he asked, suddenly thinking of Rita and Felix.

"Most of them were home within a few weeks, and all others are accounted for, which is why we were so worried about you. There was one Parakeet, Rita, who came straight to us as soon as she got home, asking about you. She tried to look for you after you escaped, what happened there?" Rafael explained.

"I tried to help a trapped bird," Nico shrugged, "he got out okay, but the door shut in my face."

"Wait a minute," Pedro suddenly said, "I've never heard about this, who's Rita?"

Rafael and Blu shared guilty looks as Nico and Jewel both watched with raised eyebrows and a small smirk.

"Well, we knew you were having a bit of a hard time, and you probably didn't want any more bad news, so we kinda figured it was best not to tell you," Rafael explained, putting a wing on the smaller bird's shoulder. Pedro looked up at him with an unreadable expression, and both Rafael and Blu waited with baited breath for the probably well-deserved anger. But neither expected him to simply shrug his shoulders and turn back to the screen.

"Fair enough I guess," he said, and the two birds let out a deep sigh of relief, "and honestly, I couldn't care less right now." He grinned at Nico, who laughed in return.

"Seriously though guys, are you lot okay? Coping well without me? Tell me Pedro hasn't fallen back into his bad eating habits," Nico asked, smirking as said cardinal spluttered, glaring.

"He moved in with us not that long after you disappeared," Jewel explained, "Don't worry, we've been looking after him well," she grinned.

"As for the how we've been doing," Rafael started, smile dropping a little, "well, it hasn't exactly been easy, we all miss you a lot, and we've been extremely worried about you. I think what scared me most," he said, looking solemn, "is knowing that if something happened to you, we would never know."

Nico looked away, fiddling with his bottle cap, which had somehow found its way back into his wings. He took a deep breath, looking back up at the camera. "One thing I can guarantee you," he said, "is that nothing will stop me from getting home. No matter what happens, I will make it." He stopped, thought for a moment, then added, "Just not by plane, never by plane." He shuddered.

"Why?" Pedro asked, tilting his head a little.

"Apparently I get airsick," Nico explained, a grim smile finding its way to his beak, "badly. Who knew birds could even get airsick," he trailed off to a mutter, glaring at the floor. Pedro snorted, and the glare quickly found its way to him.

"Sorry, that's just too funny," the cardinal giggled. Everyone else just watched on with amusement.

Nico rolled his eyes, too happy about seeing his family to care.

"Okay, story time," Rafael grinned, changing the subject, "you have to tell us how you ended up in Japan of all places."

Nico smiled, watching as they all moved to get comfortable, the kids, who were grinning but had been surprisingly quiet sat in the front with Pedro, the larger birds behind. "Alright, alright, I'll start from the beginning."

"Wait!" the clear voice of Miyoko rang out from across the room. "Remember my condition? I have to hear this too," she called, quickly crossing the room, landing and sitting in one fluid movement, settling down to hear the story.

And so he began, telling them of Alistair and the palace in London, his accident in Paris (of which he was still rather embarrassed about (Pedro sniggered)), about Cosette and Marius, purposely leaving out Vincent for another time (No need to worry them further he thought), then down to Rome, with the twins and Adriana, how they put him on the wrong plane and he ended up in China. Hong-Xian got a mention, before the flight across Japan, and searching for Rumours, until finally Miyoko finding him and seeing them perform.

They listened with rapt attention as he retold his past three months, and when he reached the end there was absolute silence. No one said a word as they stared with wide eyes.

"Wow," one of the kids, he wasn't quite sure which one, broke the silence, and suddenly they were all talking at once, not that Nico could understand a word of what they were saying.

"Slow down," he laughed, "one at a time."

The group looked around at each other, then all looked to Rafael, silently agreeing that he was the best choice to express their feelings in words. The bird in question rolled his eyes before looking back at the camera. "Alright," he said, smiling, "you're forgiven for taking as long as you have. But no more pit stops if you can help it, I- we want you home."

"Yeah," Pedro agreed, though a long yawn. On the other end of the camera, Nico mirrored the action.

"I'll do my best," the canary grinned, "I can't promise though, looking at my track record."

"Well, if you can, keep us updated," Rafael said, "I know that isn't always easy, but try."

"I will," Nico nodded, smiling, "I think it's time for the kids to go to bed," he chucked, gesturing to some of the younger ones already asleep, "And that include you Pedro."

"I'm older than you," the cardinal shot back, "isn't it your bedtime before mine?"

"Pedro, I'm in Tokyo, I only got up a few hours ago, it's half eight in the morning here," Nico explained slowly, like he was speaking to a child, but the grin was on his face the whole time, growing wider as Pedro looked confused for a moment, then 'ooh'-ed as realisation hit.

"We're going to take the kids home," Jewel said, turning to Rafael, "want us to take yours? Give you a few minutes longer here?" She asked. The toucan smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, can you just watch them outside, it'll be better if I took them back, but if you can give me few minutes that would be great."

"Before you go, we've got a performance tonight, or tomorrow morning for you, I'll get Miyoko to talk to Martin, see if you can watch us."

Jewel nodded, "it was great seeing you Nico, and I'm so glad you're okay, get home safe okay?"

Nico nodded, watching in amusement she shooed all the kids and Blu out of the club, leaving Pedro and Rafael standing alone in front of the camera.

"We'll talk to Martin about that performance," Rafael said, "any excuse to see you again."

"Uh-huh," Pedro agreed nodding, smile slowly dropping, "but seriously though Nico," he said, looking at the ground, "We miss you," he looked up, "I miss you. You scared me a lot, and I honestly don't know what I would do without you," he sniffed, giving a small watery smile, "so hurry the hell up and get your ass home."

Nico laughed, tears springing up in his eyes once more, but he managed to stop them from spilling over. "I will," he said, rubbing his eyes with his wings, "now stop it with the mushy stuff before I start crying again. I have a reputation to keep you know."

"There's no one here but us you know," Rafael grinned, "I agree with Pedro through, we've missed you like hell, and he pulled a you, with the whole bottling up thing," he said, pointing down at the cardinal. Nico winced, eyes widening.

"And how did that one end?"

"We got to him just in time, thankfully," Rafael said as Pedro scowled.

"Good, because what you saw earlier, that was a result, and it's not good," Nico warned his friend, smiling, "but I guess this time I've had an excuse, I've been busy, it's just been pushed to the back of my mind, and then you did that song and I realised just how much I miss all of you." His eyes were beginning to get watery again, and he fanned himself with a wing. "Now, I don't want to keep the kids waiting, so you better go, and I have a number to work on." He grinned, shooing them with his wings.

"Alright," Rafael smiled, starting to lead Pedro away, "We'll see you soon, and if not, then when you get back."

"Yeah, see you." Pedro echoed, waving as they turned to leave.

"And thank you," Nico called, causing them to turn around, looking at the screen expectantly, "for believing in me." The pair grinned, nodded, and turned back to the exit, taking off as they got close.

Nico stood and watched until they were out of sight before turning to Miyoko, who enveloped him his a huge hug.

"You feeling better now hun?" She asked. Nico simply nodded, wrapping his wings around her in return. "Now," she continued, pulling back and grinning, "I believe you said we have a song number to work on."

* * *

><p>"Rafael!"<p>

The toucan flinched at the accusing tone in his wife's voice. But relaxed as he remembered his excuse.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for you all night!"

"He's safe Eva," Rafael cut her off just as she was about to launch into another rant, "he's in Tokyo, but he's okay, and coming home."

"What?" Eva looked shell-shocked, "Nico's safe? Our baby's okay?" Rafael nodded, grinning as she practically launched herself at him, laughing as she wrapped her wings around him in a tight hug.

"Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Emotion, that's all this chapter is I swear, just 7,000 words of pure solid emotion. _I_ nearly cried, I'll admit, and it was such a hard chapter to write, I'm still struggling to believe it only took me three days! **

**So a lot of you (I'm pretty sure all of you actually) have expressed many times how you're looking forward to Nico being home and seeing his family again. Unfortunately, I have a plan and that plan goes on for at least another ten chapters, so there is no chance of that just yet, so I've compromised :) The glorious joys of webcam XD This idea actually stemmed from a review by Witch08, so a huge thank you to you :) And of course, a huge thank you to _all_ my reviewers for keeping me going :D I hope you all continue to follow this story and support me. **

**I'm thinking of putting a few more songs in as the story progresses, so if you have any requests or suggestions I would love to hear them. I may not be able to fit them in, since I have a ever growing list at the bottom of the document on my computer (And you will probably learn that I am a bit of a Gleek, since most of them are from Glee .), but I may be inspired and use it :) **

**As usual, all reviews are welcome, I love hearing whatever you think, good or bad :) **


	11. The Ship

**A/N: As usual, I don't own anything in this story save my original characters and the idea. Everything is owned by their respective owners.**

**Just a note, when I wrote this, I wasn't thinking of the original song, but Glee's version (yes, I'm a gleek :P) since I do prefer that one over Lady Gaga (And yes I did hear the original first, I just prefer Glee's version). But you can think of whatever version you think best :) **

* * *

><p>"<em>There ain't no reason you and me should be alone, tonight yeah baby, tonight yeah baby."<em>

Word could not describe how much he missed the feeling of being on stage. No matter where he was, at home or halfway round the world, the lights, the dancing, the cheers from the crowds. Nothing could compare, and it was something Nico could simply not get enough of.

"I _got a reason that you're who should take me home tonight._" He grinned, spinning his hat in his wings and placing it back on his head as Miyoko stepped forward, the spotlight moving to rest on her.

"_I need a man who thinks it's so right when it's so wrong, tonight yeah baby, tonight yeah baby."_ The colourful bird looked just as ecstatic as he was, and the shiny beads she had put onto her feather headpiece glittered and shined in the bright light as she moved her head. _"Right on the limits where we know be both belong tonight."_

The pair turned and walked towards each other, singing alternate lines as the spotlights merged.

"_It's hard to feel the rush."_

"_To brush the dangerous."_

"_I'm going to run right to,"_

"_To the edge with you."_ They reached each other, singing the last line together,

"_Where we can both fall far in love,"_ they took each other's wings, starting a simple dance routine as they launched into the chorus, singing in harmony. "_I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth. I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you."_ They were both grinning, not doing the choreographed dance the dancers were performing in the background, but their own freestyle, dancing around each other, spinning and swaying to the fast beat. _"I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you. I'm on the edge with you."_

The singing pair then took a few steps back, allowing the dancers to pass them as the instrumental started up. They flew up to the top platform of the stage, Nico spinning as he landed. There they danced together, twirling each other and bobbing their heads to the beat.

"_It's hard to feel the rush."_

"_To brush the dangerous."_

"_I'm going to run right to,"_

"_To the edge with you."_

"_Where we can both fall far in love!"_ The dancers stayed where they were, doing some incredibly complex moves while Nico and Miyoko sang on the top platform, the spotlight back on them.

"_I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth. I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you. I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you. With you, with you, with you, with you, with you. I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you. I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you. I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you."_

They leaned against each other, furthest wing from the audience in the air. _"I'm on the edge with you!"_

The crowd were going wild, screaming and cheering, jumping up and down with their wings in the air. Nico and Miyoko grinned wide at each other, both breathing hard. Nico held out his wing, the colourful bird taking it as they turned to the crowd, lifted their wings and bowed.

Laughing and high on adrenaline they flew off the stage, falling to the ground with exhaustion the moment they were completely out of sight, alternating between laughing and trying to breathe.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Nico exclaimed, trying to sit up, but failing miserably, dropping back to the ground with a giddy grin.

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it," Miyoko said, rolling onto her front.

A head popped round the corner, a medium size brown bird, and said something in very fast Japanese to Miyoko, who replied with equal speed, pushing herself up.

"Come on," she said, holding out a wing to help him up, "You have some birds who want to see you."

* * *

><p>"That was freaking amazing!"<p>

"Thanks buddy," Nico replied to the buzzing cardinal, "Not bad for only a day's work, if I do say so myself," he laughed, inspecting his feathers on his wing with a mock smug expression.

"You wrote that?" Blu asked from somewhere behind Pedro, who had gotten up close to the camera in his excitement.

"With help," Nico grinned, glancing at a grinning Miyoko.

"Well, you have always been known for being able to create some amazing songs," Rafael commented, "especially under pressure."

"That doesn't surprise me actually," Miyoko said, stepping up to stand next to him on the screen, "that was done in an hour, the rest of the day was spent practicing and perfecting."

The birds on the other end looked impressed, save Rafael, who most would say looked a little smug, and very proud of the little bird he had raised.

"Are you coming home now?" Eva, who had come along with the kids to watch, and gotten very emotional, asked.

"It's really late here," Nico explained, laughing at her eagerness, "I'll be off first thing in the morning though, but it'll be a month or two before I get home though, we can't tell for certain right now, so hang tight," he grinned, giving a mock salute.

"Alright man, but no long pit stops," Pedro said, smirking, "I've been doing duets for so long doing anything on my own feels weird."

Nico put on an insulted expression, wing on his heart, "Oh, so I'm being used for my talent now am I?"

"Very funny Nico," Pedro shot back, sticking his tongue out, "seriously though, I want my partner back, it's not the same without you."

"And vice versa," Nico smiled, "I can't wait to be on that stage again."

Rafael was just about to open his mouth when the screaming started. And it wasn't the good kind.

"What was that?" the toucan asked, looking worried, it certainly wasn't on their end.

"I have no id- Miyoko! What's going on?" Nico asked, looking panicked as the brightly coloured bird shot into the room, almost bowling him over. The screaming died as a very familiar voice began to speak. A voice that had haunted his thoughts since he had first heard it all those weeks ago in Paris.

He glanced to the screen, where they were all looking worried and a little scared.

"Oh, shi-"

And that was when the power went, plunging them into absolute darkness, the computer, not having its own power supply instantly shut off, losing their connection with Rio. Being in the basement with no light source, it was completely black. Nico couldn't even see his wing in front of his face.

He almost screamed when another body latched itself onto his, tightly gripping his wing, but relaxed when he realised it was Miyoko, who was shaking violently and whimpering slightly.

"It's okay," he whispered. She nodded, burying her face into his shoulder.

Outside things had gone completely silent. Nico, with a trembling Miyoko on his wing stood up, slowly walking towards the direction that he was sure was the way back to the stage.

While he didn't particularly want to go to wherever Vincent was, he had no choice in the matter, maybe he could sneak out in the dark.

But before he had even taken two steps, another small body slammed into them.

"Hey hey, what's going on?" He asked, keeping his voice down.

"Mizaki? Miyoko asked, letting go of Nico and gathering her little sister up in her wings. "Sweetie are you okay?"

"He's after you," the younger bird directed her statement at Nico, who looked grim, even though no one could see him.

"I know," he murmured, "and I'm sorry for getting you involved."

"He doesn't know for certain you're here," Mizaki said, reaching out to grab his wing, "I can probably throw him off, and Miyoko can sneak you out the back way?"

"You have a back way?"

"Yes, and you have a lot of explaining to do mister," Miyoko scowled, "alright, Mizaki, be careful, and you and the girls meet me by the docks in an hour, in the usual place, no dawdling or I will assume the worst. Let's go!" She immediately grabbed the canary and gingerly began dragging him in the opposite direction, one wing held out in front of her to prevent them from walking into anything.

It took a couple of minutes of fumbling around in the dark to find the hole in the wall, covered up with a thin piece of wood, and all the while they could hear Mizaki convincing the huge bird that Miyoko had taken Nico downtown to see the nightlife elsewhere as soon as their performance was over. Apparently they were headed for Tokyo tower.

If possible, the tunnel she dragged him into was darker than it was outside. Perhaps his eyes were just beginning to get used to the dark, and then he was thrown into even more dark.

"It's a little tight," she warned, "I hope you're not claustrophobic."

"Not yet," Nico murmured, ducking into a tiny tunnel. It was barely big enough to fit him, it was obviously not used for major evacuations, most birds wouldn't fit down here.

"There's a bigger escape route," Miyoko explained, as if reading his mind, keeping her voice low, "but it's too obvious, if things go wrong, they won't think to look in here. Now, start talking," she ordered, tightening her grip on his wing, "who was that? And what does he want with you?"

Nico sighed, not exactly wanting to relive the darker moments of Paris, but launched into the story all the same.

When he had finished his tale, Miyoko stopped and turned to look at him. Or she would have, if she could see more than a few millimetres in front of her face.

"And why didn't you tell your friends?" was the first thing she asked.

"They were worried enough about me, I don't want them knowing I have a homicidal eagle after my head too," he explained. He was about to go on, but a sharp pain erupted in the underside of his wing as they sidestepped down a particularly narrow space. If he could have doubled over, he would have, but the wall prevented that, so he settled with a sharp gasp of pain. Miyoko's grip tightened instantly.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern clear in her voice even if he couldn't see it in her face.

Not really. But now was not the time to linger on a small cut. Besides, the pain was already beginning to subside to a dull throbbing, and Nico tried to ignore the fact that his wing was starting to feel a little wet. "It's nothing, I just caught my wing, keep going," he said, fighting to keep the tremor out of his voice.

"You sure?"

"Go."

* * *

><p>Shocked silence filled the room as the screen went black. Every single bird just stared, wide eyed and open mouthed at the blank screen.<p>

"What just happened?" Blu asked, barely a whisper.

Pedro couldn't answer, as much as he wanted to think that it was something as simple and innocent as the power going out on the other end, the look of sheer panic and fear on his old friends face was enough to make his stomach twist and heart leap into his throat.

Eva was in Rafael's wings within seconds, looking scared and close to tears.

"Tell me he's going to be okay," she choked out, as Rafael stroked her feathers soothingly, expression scared and vacant. His silence said more than his words ever could.

He didn't know.

Pedro felt a wing around his shoulders, and suddenly his vision was filled with Blue as Jewel pulled him into a tight hug, blocking his view of the blank screen. He immediately buried his beak in her soft feathers, trembling slightly as his mind went into overdrive, thinking over all the things that could have happened and why Nico had looked so scared.

It wasn't just normal fear, the kind you might get in the sort of situation where you hear screaming from the other room. No, the look on his face showed true terror, something that chilled the little bird right to the bone. He knew something. There was something he missed out in his tale.

"We gotta do something," Pedro said, pulling back and looking pointedly at Rafael, who had his head bowed as his wife silently sobbed into his shoulder. He looked up at the cardinal's voice, eyes worried and scared.

"What can we do?" the older bird asked, looking apologetic.

"Anything!" Pedro cried, looking for all the world like he was a little kid about to burst into tears.

Rafael sighed, extracting himself a little from Eva, who stayed attached to his side with watery and frightened eyes, but allowed him to comfort the other bird.

"Pedro," he said gently, bending down so he was a close to eye level as he could get, "I know you're worried, I'm just as scared for him as you are, but that connection won't be down forever, we'll keep it monitored and at the first sign of life we'll find out what happened. And then we can do something about it."

Pedro nodded, taking a deep, albeit shaky breath. "Alright," he said reluctantly, staring at the ground, "I just..." he trailed off, sighing.

"I know Pedro," Jewel cut in, Blu's wing around her shoulders, "trust me, all I want to do is fly over there and make sure he's okay, and I can practically see Rafael twitching to go," this earned her a weak glare from the toucan, "but we need to wait, and goodness knows you hate that, but so do the rest of us."

Blu gave her a tight squeeze, trying to look reassuring, "she's right, as always," he said, "we just need to have a little faith."

"A little faith," Pedro repeated, looking thoughtful, "I suppose I can do that."

* * *

><p>Okay, so flying was a little painful.<p>

Scrap that. Every flap of his injured wing sent a shot of excruciating pain through his nerves and it was all he could do to not cry out in pain and drop out of the sky. But he had to get as far away from Vincent as he could before the Eagle found out where he was going.

It didn't take them too long to reach the docks and slip into the dimly lit attic of an abandoned warehouse, though to the tiny canary, it felt like hours.

Miyoko spun round to face him the moment they landed.

"Okay, we've got to wait for my sisters now, and then we have until five in the morning when the first ship across the Pacific leaves, so might as well tell me what you did to your wing," she said, making it sound like a suggestion, but it certainly had the underlying hints of an order.

"It's nothing, just a scratch," Nico tried to brush it off, not wanting to worry too much, it would heal up in time. Probably one of those tiny little cuts that always seem to hurt way more than the big ones.

"I can see the blood from here Nico," Miyoko deadpanned, "Now, even if that was 'just a scratch' it wasn't exactly clean in that tunnel, that could get seriously infected."

Nico looked a little freaked out, but was still reluctant to peel his injured wing away from his side and let her have a look. He could feel the blood drying in his feathers and the pain had been reduced to a dull throbbing, but he just knew if he moved it the pain would explode once more. It took another ten minutes of convincing and all of Miyoko's seven sisters arriving to hold him down and force him to open his wing to see the true damage.

The cut wasn't deep, but it ran the length of his wing and because he had to move it so much getting away, it had bled a lot. This of course, made it look a lot worse than it actually was, and a lot of the girls looked a little queasy at the sight of it.

"Momo," Miyoko called to the largest of the eight, looking a little green around the edges herself, "I think this is a job for you."

A slightly larger bird walked over, smiling serenely as she looked over the wound while the smallest, probably no older than a few months, held onto his uninjured wing with a curious expression on her face as she watched the older bird fuss and tend to the slightly ragged cut.

Nico purposely looked away, watching Miyoko fret and worry over her sisters. He remembered her telling him she was the second oldest of eight, and he assumed Momo, the one tending to his wing, was the oldest.

He winced harshly as she dripped a clear fluid into the wound, then used a small cloth to wipe it clean, moving feathers out of the way. The small girl gripped in wing tighter, looking up at him with wide innocent eyes. He felt all of a sudden grateful for the girl he had never even met before keeping him company and comforted in his moment of pain. The pain lasted a few more seconds before dimming to a dull throbbing as she wrapped it tightly with bandages. Not an easy feat with all the feathers, but she did well, slowly folding his wing, keeping the pain to a minimum, and strapped it to his side.

He looked down at the bandages, sighing.

"And here we go again," he murmured, thinking of his time in Paris, "I can still move on right?" He asked, looking a little worried. Momo nodded in answer.

"Yes, that bandage will only have to stay on for a few days, which will probably be the length of time you are on the ship to Hawaii, so you can still leave in the morning," she told him, cleaning up her things and putting them back in a little compartment in the corner.

"Thank you," he smiled, moving to gingerly touch the bandages but finding he still had a small bird gripping his wing tightly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Mei, sweetheart," Miyoko called, and the little girl glanced in her older sisters direction, "come here." The small bird nodded, smiled widely at Nico before bounding over to her sister. It reminded him a lot of some of the younger kids back home.

Miyoko deposited Mei with one of the other girls settling down to sleep before wandering over to Nico with a grim smile and a sigh.

"Everything's been smoothed over," she told him, leading him over to the set of nests in the corner, "Mizaki threw him off in the opposite direction, but I do think it may be time to move 'Rumours', last thing we want is him coming back when he finds out what we did. If he finds out," she gave a small chuckle, "Tokyo is huge, chances are he'll just think we got ahead and he lost us."

"But he'll probably come back eventually," Nico pointed out.

"Yes, which is why I'm at least shutting the club for a week or so until this blows over completely."

"Good plan," the canary agreed, settling in the nest.

Neither said another word as they got comfortable and slipped into deep sleep. But just before Nico was about to drop off, Miyoko piped up with one parting comment.

"By the way, how do you feel about getting up at four?"

* * *

><p>"What happened?"<p>

It was three in the afternoon before the group of worried friends got an answer. Pedro was beginning to wear a hole in the ground with all his pacing, Rafael and Eva stayed close, keeping their wings around each other in comfort, and Blu and Jewel spent the hours talking softly in the corner.

Now they were once again gathered around the screen, talking to a rather taken aback male sparrow.

"Everything's fine, no one was hurt," he said, "some psycho was after an old regular of ours," he lied, just like instructed, "he doesn't come anymore so we sent the guy on his way. Your friend is safe and Miyoko is putting him on a ship in around two or so hours," he yawned.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the Rio end, and Pedro sat down with a thankful smile on his face, his pacing having worn him out some.

"So he's on his way?" Rafael asked, looking much calmer.

"He's on his way," the sparrow confirmed, a tired smile on his beak.

* * *

><p>"Alright ladies, don't hurt the cripple further," Miyoko laughed a few hours later, laughing as the seven girls, despite having barely met the canary, enveloped him in a huge group hug.<p>

"Wha-who are you callin'- seriously?" Nico spluttered, torn between thankfulness at being released, or annoyance at being called a cripple. But they listened and let go, all grinning madly. Just like their sister, who approached him while shooing off her family, who moved off as a group just out of earshot.

"Well then," Miyoko said with a slightly nervous smile, "I guess it's time for you to go."

"Yeah," Nico glanced worriedly up at the large ship that would be taking him across the pacific.

"Good luck, I guess," Miyoko murmured, pulling him in for a hug, which she quickly loosened when he winced slightly. "You better get going."

"Probably, but first, thank you," Nico said, keeping his uninjured wing on her shoulder, "for finding me and helping me. Just, for everything. Thanks." He smiled, turning away from her and to the vast cruise ship he was about to get on. But before he could even think about taking a step forward, he felt a wing on his face force his head back towards Miyoko and then suddenly, her beak was on his.

The shock almost made him lose his balance completely, but his one flailing wing managed to gain it once more. Then, just as he was about to kiss back, she pulled away, smiling wide.

"Sorry," she murmured, leaning her forehead against his, both her wings around his neck, "I've wanted to do since I met you."

Nico couldn't find the words. He literally couldn't speak, his throat had completely dried up and his brain fried. The most he could do was grin goofily in return. Miyoko laughed as she pulled away completely with one last peck on the cheek.

"You better get going before they leave without you," she said, cocking her head to the ship just as they sounded the horn, chuckling at the slightly vacant look on his face, "sorry sweetheart, it'll never work," she grinned, sticking her tongue out a little. Nico just nodded, shrugging slightly in agreement. They both have their own lives far too far away from each other. He was still a little speechless as he turned towards the ship, climbing on the rope that connected the ship to the mainland.

"Call me when you get back though!" he heard Miyoko call just as he was about to duck into the hole and into the ship.

"Will do!" he yelled back, giving a mock salute and a wave at the eight birds gathered to see him off. He noticed Miyoko winking and blowing him a kiss out of the corner of his eye just as he was turning into the ship and couldn't hold in the laughter bubbling up inside.

Best Send-off ever.

* * *

><p>Worst trip ever.<p>

For the most part, the seven day journey to Hawaii was calm. The weather was gorgeous, with glorious summer sunshine and cloudless skies. There was one stormy day, but it barely affected anyone in the slightest, it just rained a lot, with very little wind and a small amount of thunder and lightning. It barely rocked the boat.

And yet despite this Nico spent most of the trip curled in a corner, feeling sicker than he ever had before. Almost constant stomach cramps and aches, his wing throbbed with pain every time he moved, and after about three days he began to feel achy and feverish, with a pounding headache. He had set up camp under the cover in one of the life boats. The heavy tarpaulin was enough to block out most of the sun's heat during the day, but keeping it at a warm temperature, and at night kept it cool. There was also a small tear, which had let in rain water over previous trips, even more after it rained, giving him plenty of drinking water, the only thing he could keep down after two or so days.

The cabinet at one end was well stocked with tinned food, which he managed to find a opener for, and with great difficulty, opened a tin of mixed fruit. Not that most of it was eaten.

By the time they had reached Hawaii, he was so weak he could barely walk, much less crawl out of the small boat then down to land. But he tried none the less.

There was no way in hell he was going to die there.

He'd managed, in some way, to pull himself out of the boat and had managed to take about two steps before an overwhelming bout of dizziness hit him, blackness clouding his vision as he fell unconscious.

The last thing he heard was two worried shouts, one male and one female, and the fluttering of wings close by before he blacked out completely.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Poor Nico is ill again, oh no! But onto Hawaii! :D I've got to start listening to my plans, I keep drifting off and end up going in a completely different direction with one thing, meaning I then have to change future plans since they no longer fit :/ Once I have a character completely planned out, they end up developing their own personality and sometimes mood swings, and just ignore my plans. Which is what happened here. But I have to say I like how it turned out.**

**Also, I know it's said the he wrote that song, but I can assure you I am in no way a song writer (I'm awful actually) because of this, I will be doing that a lot in this story, so let's just imagine all these songs don't actually exist in our world for the purpose of this story. **

**As always, please hit that button below that says 'Review' :) Any and all are welcomed, I'm always trying to improve my writing, so constructive criticism is also welcome :) Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I do try to reply to all signed reviews, but if I'm unable it's not I can't be bothered, just busy and it slips my mind, so sorry if I don't :) **


	12. The Recovery

The first thing he felt when he began to regain consciousness was that he was starving. Like he hadn't eaten in days sort of hungry. At that point, the aching pain in his stomach was all he could feel, the rest of his body just felt numb, as if it wasn't even there.

He dug through his hazy memory, trying to remember why he was even in this state to begin with.

The last thing he could remember was Tokyo, singing on that stage under the university with Miyoko, talking to Pedro, Rafael and the rest of his family in Rio. But then what happened? His mind drew a blank, one minute he was talking to his family, and the next he was shrouded in blackness.

Blackness.

The power went out! Vincent, screaming, the hidden tunnel, the cut in his wing.

The kiss.

As the memories began to return, so did the feeling in his limbs and he started to notice that he wasn't feeling quite as bad as he had when the blackness had first taken over his mind. Still a little achy, and his head hurt, but he chalked that down to slight dehydration and the disuse of muscles. He didn't know how long he had been out for, but it felt like days, perhaps longer.

He hoped not.

Minutes, hours, he didn't know. But some time had passed before he was able to muster up enough energy move a little. It was only a little twitch in his foot, but it was progress. And it alerted someone to his awakening as he felt someone grip his wing tightly.

A voice, feminine and soft, broke through the slight haze in his mind. It was unfamiliar, yet he could have sworn he had heard it somewhere before.

"Tony! I think he's waking up!" The voice called out, and he immediately looked in her general direction. Well, his eyes did. He did not yet possess the energy with which to lift his eyelids. "Hey Pajarito, how are you feeling?" the voice asked, and he could hear the patter of feet and the flutter of wings as another presence rushed to his side.

"Stupid question Tia, he's barely awake and hasn't even opened his eyes yet, you think he's gonna answer?" a male voice from his left asked, voice dripping with cynicism. He was right though. Nico felt incredibly stiff, and opening his eyes felt like the hardest thing in the world right now. Talking was completely out of the question. His throat was dry and scratchy, and his tongue felt heavy.

But hell he was going to try.

He gathered up all the energy in his body and directed it to the excruciating task of opening his eyes.

He had managed a crack, but then winced involuntarily and had to shut them almost instantly as the harsh light broke through.

"Tony, shut the curtain, I think it's a little bright," the female, Tia ordered.

"Why can't you?" the male, Tony, argued. There was a moment of tense silence, before, "fine."

Nico inwardly chuckled.

"Alright sweetie, try opening your eyes again," Tia told him gently. Nico complied, wanting to put a face to the voice. He once again focused what little energy he had and managed to lift both eyelids a little. Thankfully, the light had dimmed significantly, no longer blinding him.

His vision was slightly blurred, meaning he couldn't quite make out the details of the bright green and blue shape hovering above him. All he knew was that it was definitely a bird, since the shape had a beak. Another blur of a similar shape but a bright yellow appeared from his left.

"There you go," said the yellow, and Nico was able to match the voice to the male from a moment ago, Tony. His vision began to clear after a few blinks and it wasn't long before he could make out a smile on both faces, then more and more details became clearer as the seconds ticked by.

Tia, earlier a green and blue blob, turned out to be a green headed Tanager, a smallish bird with green-blue feathers, though hints of other colours tipped some of her feathers, with soft green eyes and a gentle smile. The other, Tony, was almost like looking in a mirror, though with a few minor changes. He was a bright yellow canary with dark brown eyes and a dark brown patch around one eye.

"I'll get you some water," he said, darting out of sight with a grin. Tia moved out of his immediate sight, but he could sense she stayed close.

"Well done for waking up," she said, "we thought you weren't going to make it for a while."

"Tia!" Tony scolded, "give the poor kid time to wake up before you start dropping bombs like that," he sighed, shaking his head as he bought over a small cup of water.

Between them they helped the weak bird into a partial sitting position, leaning against some makeshift pillows they had made and supported his head further forward so he could drink properly.

Nico finished the cup in under ten seconds, drinking like he hadn't in weeks. Several cups later he dropped his head back, satisfied and smiling weakly.

"Thanks," he said, his voice refusing to go any louder than a bare whisper after such disuse.

"You're welcome _Pajarito,_" Tia smiled, "I suppose you have a lot of questions," she assumed, and Nico gave a tiny nod, "Well I'm sure you've already heard, but my name is Tia, and that_ perdedor_ over there is Tony."

"I am not a loser!" the canary called from where he was pouring a cup of water for himself. Nico briefly wondered what language she kept slipping into, the accent sounded similar to his own, but the language was different.

"Yes you are," Tia sing-songed, smiling innocently at him before turning back to Nico, who had managed to raise an eyebrow in amusement, "he kinda is, but I love him anyway," she laughed

Nico smiled, "I'm Nico," he introduced himself, and Tia grinned.

"Well Nico, right now you are in our hollow on the island Honolulu in Hawaii." Nico nodded, it was better than waking up somewhere he wasn't expecting, like China. He was still on the right course. "we found you just as you fell unconscious, the cut you had bandaged up had gotten infected, seriously, and because nothing was done earlier on, the infection had gotten into your blood-stream and seriously threatened your life."

"It was a good thing we found you when we did," Tony piped up, wandering over and sitting down close by, "any longer and you might not have made it, we took you to the bird doctor in town, since I seem to rather accident prone we know the girl quite well. She managed to fix you up and get rid of the infection but you didn't wake up."

"We kept checking," Tia continued, "but after a while, they began to give up on you. You were alive, but not responding in any way, basically a coma. We snuck you out that night, since Tony here refused to give up on you, and they were planning on 'putting you down,'" she explained as Tony grinned proudly at his decision.

"How long was I out?" Nico asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Nearly three weeks," Tia said, looking slightly apologetic as the canary's beak dropped open in shock and eyes widened in horror.

Three weeks! That meant he had left Tokyo a month ago. A Month! He groaned, dropping his head back in frustration. This had to stop happening. First Paris, then his bout of illness in Shanghai, and now this. Someone up there really didn't want him home. He was seriously thinking of screwing it all and getting on another plane. Making absolutely sure it was the right one this time.

Then he remembered how sick he had felt, and quickly squashed that idea into the ground. All he had to do was get over to the mainland and it would hopefully be plain sailing from there. But he wanted to get moving as soon as he possibly could.

"Got somewhere you need to be?" Tony asked, his voice light and joking, but with a hint of seriousness.

"Yeah, home," Nico rasped, his voice dropping into a scratchy whisper again, and he coughed in an attempt at clearing his throat.

"How long have you been away from home?" Tia asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

Actually, that was a good question. Nico tried to work it out. A week from London to Paris, Six weeks in Paris, a week in Rome, another in Shanghai, Two weeks to get across Tokyo, three days in Tokyo, a week across the Pacific and then three weeks in a Coma in Hawaii. That was...

He groaned.

A headache is what is was.

"A while," he bit out several seconds later, rubbing his temple slowly with his wing.

"Oh, that long huh?" Tony winced, guessing the implications of that 'while'. In other words, far longer than he wanted to be.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're stuck here for a while," Tia said.

"She has a point," Tony said, his expression regretful at the look of dismay on the other Canary's face, "you've been out for the count for so long, you haven't been eating properly for around a month, and you've barely used any muscles. You need a week or two to get your strength back up."

Nico sighed, finding even that a difficult task. Maybe they had a good point. Maybe some relaxation time to build his strength would be good for him. At least it wasn't as long as Paris, two weeks and he could be on his way. And anyway, Tia and Tony seemed okay.

* * *

><p>He honestly had no idea walking could be so exhausting. It had been two days since he had woken up, and in that time he had probably eaten around three times his body weight in food and was now itching to get up and get out. He could see the clear blue skies from his nest and could hear the ocean, but he hadn't actually been outside of the hollow. Until now.<p>

"You okay?" Tia asked as she helped him stand up on shaky legs. Nico nodded, wondering why in the hell he felt so exhausted when all had done was get up. He hadn't even taken a step forward yet. "Alright, we'll get you outside, and then you can rest."

Nico nodded again, concentrating his minimal energy into putting one foot in front of the other. It took around fifteen minutes, but eventually they made it outside onto the wide branch just outside their home.

The view made his beak drop open in shock. It was stunning. The pair had somehow managed to nab a tree right on the edge of the forest, so close to the sea you could almost touch it. Palm trees swayed in the breeze along a white sandy beach that was more or less deserted, despite the glorious sunshine and clear blue skies.

He took a deep breath, taking in the cool sea air.

It was almost impossible not to smile.

"Beautiful right?" Tia asked, helping the slightly smaller bird down into a sitting position, "I don't think you mentioned, where are you from?"

Nico settled down, trying to find a position that didn't strain his aching muscles. He hated feeling like this, he could barely walk three feet. Flying was going to be near impossible at this rate and he could help but question how he was going to strengthen his wing muscles in a way that didn't involve him dropping the thirty feet from the tree to the ground.

"Rio De Janeiro," Nico replied with a hint of nostalgia as he watched the waves crash against the shore.

"Yikes, how'd you end up all the way out here?"

"Long story," Nico said, hoping to avoid telling the long and complicated story of his life once more, "like, four months worth of complicated."

"If you don't want to tell, then I'm not going to pry," Tia said, wing over her heart as a promise, "that doesn't mean I'm not curious though," she grinned playfully, "I mean, how does a canary of all things end up on a cruise ship from Tokyo trying to get to Rio?"

Nico was about to give a reply when another voice, high-pitched and unfamiliar broke through the silence.

"Tia!"

The bird in question spun round with a wide grin on her face, which very quickly morphed into a look of absolute horror as a yellow and brown blur nearly bowled her over.

"Ali! Woah girl, you have to stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" the girl asked. She was another canary, but she had darker yellow feathers and most of them were tipped brown. She sounded slightly giddy as Tia pulled her back onto the branch. "You haven't been around in ages, I thought you died or something."

Tia laughed, keeping a grip on the girl to stop her falling off the branch again until she had a solid footing. "Nah, but you know Tony."

"Wish I didn't," Ali muttered darkly.

Nico watched the exchange with mild amusement and a slight confusion.

"Oh, I completely forgot! Ali, this is Nico," Tia said, stepping aside so the girl could see him clearly, "the miracle bird." She grinned, winking, "Nico, this is Ali, she's one of my best friends." Nico gave a little wave, smiling.

Ali ignored him, taking a few steps forward, leaning in towards him and eying him up suspiciously. Nico unconsciously leaned back, raising an eyebrow. Then, suddenly, she stood up straight, frowning.

"No," was all she said, crossing her wings.

"No?" Nico repeated, looking incredibly confused. Ali spun around to Tia and began whispering rapidly in such a low voice that Nico couldn't catch any of it. Tia however, kept leaning round her to glance at him every few seconds, deepening Nico's confusion. Then, with an annoyed growl, the female canary took off, flying away towards to beach, Nico staring after her with a bewildered look on his face.

"Don't mind her, the girl doesn't trust easily," Tia said, shrugging as she turned to the canary. Nico opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off, "besides, I think she's just pissed about how much attention we've been doting on you since we brought you home, she doesn't like to leave her home much, so in order to see her we have to go there."

"Where does she live?"

"With a human in the closest town, she gets some freedom when he's not around, but this is becoming less and less frequent recently, he's old."

"She's a pet?" Nico asked, expression morphing into curiosity.

"Well, yeah, but don't ever say that to her face, she will hurt you, and most likely try to bring your head back as a trophy," Tia grimaced, wincing a little, probably at a old memory, "she has the tendency to be a little...violent at times, so I would watch what you say."

Nico's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off once again. This time by Tony, who landed on the branch behind him.

"Is she gone?" he asked timidly, and Nico turned his head with an amused smirk. "Don't look at me like that!" Tony protested, "she's scary," he whimpered, looking genuinely terrified. If anything, Nico's smirk grew wider, and then wider still when Tia bent over and whispered in his ear.

"They dated," she said, smirking, making Nico 'ohh,' knowingly. Tony spluttered for a few moments, finding he had no suitable argument that made him seem more manly. He slumped, crossing his wings tightly over his chest, scowling.

"So not the point here," he muttered, avoiding eye contact with the two birds who were trying their hardest not to laugh.

* * *

><p>It took another three days before Nico was strong enough to fly, even if he could only go about ten minutes without feeling like he was about to drop out of the sky from exhaustion. But he used those ten minutes well, flying the twenty minute journey into town in just over an hour. Tia and Tony, bless them, tried to be patient with him, but anyone could see they began to get annoyed with the amount of times they had to stop for a break, both dreading the trip back. Nico was sure they were planning on just leaving him there overnight and getting him the next morning.<p>

Their first stop, much to Tony's horror, was Ali's place, since Tia was so determined to get to Nico a little more.

Their second meeting however, went just as well as their first. Ali skirted around actually talking to him, doing more work while Tia tried to get them to talk. After ten or so minutes Nico gave up, falling back to sit with Tony.

Nico was surprised to find out that Ali lived with a Blacksmith, and had built her own mini workshop and started to make her own creations, taking on tips and techniques from the old man she lived with. But while the human made useful things, Ali had moved more towards the arty and creative side of things, making models and jewellery, which was how he noticed the metal flower clipped into her feathers on her head. Though Nico was more than nervous when he caught a glimpse of what looked like weapons hanging on the far wall. There were definitely a few Canary sized spears and he was fairly sure he saw a sword.

"So, you dated her?" Nico asked, trying to start up a conversation as they watched the female canary moved around the room, organising papers and tidying up with Tia chatting to her at a hundred miles an hour. Neither boys were listening to a word she was saying. Not that they could understand if they tried.

"Yeah, for about a year two years ago," Tony explained, shrugging, "it wasn't the best of endings, we just started arguing a lot, over little things. And then after one particularly bad one, I ended it. Needless to say she was not happy and while we can stand to be in the same room together, we both try to avoid it where possible."

"Fair enough I guess, to be honest I've never really been in a relationship like that," Nico said, watching the dynamic between the two girls with great interest. Ali seemed to be cold and distant on the outside, even around Tia, but he noticed the soft smile on her beak every time she looked at her best friend. It was obvious she was keeping up the facade for the benefit of the boys.

"Really?" Tony asked, looking genuinely shocked, "you look like the kind of guy who would have girls all over you, I've heard you sing, chicks dig that."

"Oh I do," Nico laughed, "Me and Pedro, we're like celebrities at the club we frequent, but I guess I've never really fallen for any of them. Nothing ever seemed genuine," he shrugged his shoulders, looking totally nonchalant about it, "there's only ever been one girl so far, I only knew her a few days, but we both knew it would never work out."

"How come?"

"Long distance," Nico explained, looking slightly distant as he thought back to Miyoko and the kiss on the dock.

"Sucks man," Tony said, nodding with a sympathetic smile.

"Doesn't matter," Nico smiled, "so what about you and Tia, what's the relationship there? I mean you live together after all."

"Tia? She's my sister," Tony said, looking over at the colourful bird, who was listening to something Ali was saying.

"Fair enough," Nico said, leaning back against the wall. Tony snapped his head to the other canary, beak dropped open.

"That has to be the calmest reaction to that I've ever heard," he said, looking at him like he had just grown another head, "most birds are just like 'WHAT?' and wonder what the heck went wrong in our family, and then we have to go through the long explanation that I was adopted and such."

"O-kay," Nico looked a little confused, more at the explanation than the whole adopted thing, "So whereabouts did her family pick you up?"

"Barcelona."

"Oohhh, Spanish, I've been wondering about the language and accent for days," Nico said, realization striking. He had spent the past few days trying to place it, but he didn't want to ask outright. Tony grinned, laughing a little before his expression morphed back into confusion.

"So, how come you're so...normal about this?" he asked, gesturing between Tia and himself.

"Oh, I am too, picked up by a couple of Toucans in Rio when I was a few weeks old. I can't even remember how I ended up there," he chuckled, though those quickly died when he took in the expression on Tony's face. The other bird stared at him, frowning and looking like he was thinking hard, "What?"

The canary suddenly smiled, waving it off, "oh, nothing, nothing, just thinking," he grinned, though Nico could see that it was slightly forced.

"Ri-ight."

* * *

><p>"At least tell me why you won't even give me the time of day."<p>

"Hm?" Ali spun round, her beak stuffed with fruit as Nico sat down next to her by the bonfire. Apparently it was weekly tradition for all the birds in the town to gather together on the beach for one evening a week, usually a Friday, just for a social thing, and to welcome any new birds. Tia and Tony, while not technically living in the Town always joined in, mainly for Ali's benefit. The girl was a bit of a loner and didn't talk to people much, so they always came along to force her to go and be sociable at least one night a week.

"You don't even know me, and yet you treat me as if I did something to wrong you," Nico explained, taking his hat off, which he was still surprised had made it this far, and started absent-mindedly spinning it in his wings.

Ali rolled her eyes, swallowing and turning away.

"I don't trust you," she said quietly, scowling lightly.

"Why?" Nico asked, trying to sound neutral.

Ali scoffed, picking up a slice of pineapple and spearing it on her stick, rather forcefully, before holding it over the fire. "I'm surprised Tia hasn't told you yet, she's a talkative one. I don't trust others birds, besides, I don't like you."

"What?" Nico asked, stunned as all neutrality dropping from his voice, "why not?"

"I just don't," Ali said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, expression cold and stiff.

"That's hardly an answer."

"I don't have to answer to you."

Nico huffed, rolling his eyes and turning away to look around. He could see Tony and Tia talking in hushed tones just across from him. They had kicked him out of their little group earlier, claiming to have some family business to attend to, which was why Nico had approached Ali, knowing no one else around. Whatever they were talking about, it looked important. Actually, the more he looked at them, the more it looked like an argument, by the way Tia was throwing her wings about angrily, a scowl fixed on her face as she glared at her brother. Tony however, looked nervous and a little doubtful.

Nico looked back to Ali, who was calmly eating her warmed pineapple as if nothing had happened. When he looked back to the siblings however, his view was blocked, making him jump as he looked up to see Tony, still looking a little nervous, but certainly more sure of himself than before.

"Hey Nico, can I talk to you?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Sure, what's up?" Nico said, trying to get into the other birds line of sight.

"I mean, privately," Tony said, giving in as their eyes locked.

"Oh, sure."

They flew a few metres away, landing on the sand close to the lapping water. Nico couldn't help but land really close, letting the shallow water cover his feet.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked a few seconds later as Tony remained weirdly silent.

"You know, I used to have a little brother," Tony started, stepping up next to him and watching the moon rise slowly in the sky, "a real one I mean, before I was adopted."

Nico seemed a little confused as to why he was telling him this, but stayed quiet, letting him continue.

"I loved him as only a brother can, I was only one at the time, but our parents, well, they didn't want him, to put it simply. Our owners, the humans travelled a lot, and while on one holiday, when he was about three weeks old, they abandoned him, threw him out the cage just as they were loading the car to leave for the airport."

'_Tony!'_

Nico started a little as a voice, high-pitched and childish, echoed around his head, as if from a distant, distant memory. What in the world? He swallowed thickly, focusing on what the other bird was saying.

"I tried to go after him, tried to leave the cage, but they held me back, and I could do nothing but watch as I was taken away and he was left there on the empty sidewalk, crying out for me."

'_No! Let me go!' _

Nico tried to silence the sharp intake of breath and calm his suddenly wildly beating heart. Images he had long since repressed flickered in his mind like an old movie and he suddenly realised where Tony was taking this.

'_NICO!'_

"You know, my full name is Antonio, and our parents refused to call me anything but my full name, but he-"

"Couldn't say it," Nico cut him off, staring straight ahead with wide eyes as the images began to clear in his mind as he remembered, "I could never pronounce your full name, no matter how much they tried to make me say it, and I always called you Tony," he was breathing hard by this point, trying as hard as he could to calm down. He clamped his eyes shut, forcing back the tears that had begun to form. He laughed, bending over a little with one wing over his eyes.

After a few seconds, and with his breathing slowing down significantly he straightened up and, taking a deep breath, turned to his brother.

"I'm guessing it stuck then, right, Tony?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Gah, Drama! :D I do love a bit of drama :) taking a bit of a break from all the action and adventure :P So Nico is now stuck in Hawaii for a little bit, and finding out a little about his family background in the process :D**

**Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, please keep them coming, I love hearing what you think :) Especially this one, I was a little apprehensive about this, so please do tell me what you think :) So please do drop a review :D**


	13. The Dance

"I thought you were dead."

Nico didn't say anything, he simply buried his face in his newly found brother's shoulder while the older wrapped his wings around him tightly. He was still too shocked to speak. Old memories he had buried long ago flashed across his mind, images of cold and distant parents, a protective older brother, being snatched up and abandoned while Tony fought against it, not being able to anything but watch helplessly as he disappeared from view into a car. He remembered the nightmares, Rafael singing to him to help him calm down and eventually forget.

But it was all rushing back to him now, slightly fuzzy but clear enough for him.

"Heh, can't get rid of me that easily," Nico joked, his voice a little wobbly as the lump in his throat threatened to make him start crying yet again.

This did not go unnoticed by Tony, who tightened his hold on the younger bird, closing his eyes and leaning his head against Nico's. He had long resigned himself to the thought that his brother was dead, and yet here he was, alive and well.

When he first began to suspect he didn't want to believe it, didn't want to get his hopes up. But it was only when Nico had mentioned Rio and Tia had told him how much alike they look did his suspicions begin to become confirmed. And then when Nico cut him off finished the story, Tony could have sworn his heart jumped into his throat. The only thing he could do was pull the younger bird into a crushing hug, holding him like he would never let him go again.

"Well thank goodness for that," Tony laughed, sounding just as shaky as he fought back tears of happiness and relief.

After some time they pulled back, both grinning like idiots but with subtle tear stains down their cheeks.

"I can't quite get my mind to believe this yet," Tony chuckled, rubbing at his eyes, "I've spent so long imagining that you were still alive, but never thought that you actually were! I mean you were barely old enough to talk when it happened, definitely not old enough to survive on your own."

"You can thank Rafael for that," Nico grinned, "and while we're still on the sap, I used to have dreams about you, I always just assumed you were someone I made up, but I had always hoped you were real."

Tony smiled, eyes becoming slightly watery once more.

Their moment ended quickly when a sudden wave, tiny to the eyes of a human, but taller than both of them combined, hit the shore, soaking them both.

There was a few seconds where neither moved, except to blink the salt water out of their eyes.

"Perhaps we'd better move," Tony said, smirking as he shook out his feathers. Nico simply snorted, and the next thing Tony knew a spray of water hit his face.

When he cleared the water from his eyes, Nico was looking at him, expression wide-eyed and innocent, save the little twitch in one corner of his beak that gave him away.

"Oh, it is on!"

* * *

><p>Ali sighed, clenching her fist around a miniature hammer as she put everything she had into not snapping at the canary chatting away about music behind her.<p>

"Explain to me again why you're here?" She said suddenly, trying to keep the whine out of her voice.

"I told you," Nico smirked, leaning against the wall, "I want to get to know you more, see what you're really like underneath the cold front and perhaps, heaven forbid, see you smile."

"I'm sorry, you think I was actually listening to any of that?" she snarled, her voice almost dripping with sarcasm as she glared over her shoulder at the grinning bird. Why was he not affected by anything she said?

"I think you were."

Because apparently he was an idiot.

"Well, you thought wrong."

Nico smirked. She was definitely going to be a tough one to crack. But after that fleeting conversation on the beach two nights ago he had made it his personal mission to get her to like him. He had spoken to Tia about it, who had apparently had just as hard a time as he had to get her to trust right at the beginning, before they were friends. It was a hard road, she had told him, but once you get through the wall, she really is fun to be around.

He wasn't seeing it.

But he was going to fight on. Right up until he had to leave. He had spent most of his time in her workshop, sometimes in silence as he just watched her work from a safe distance. He was incredibly curious about the things she had made and was making when he was around. He didn't get much of an answer, but he saw the flash of pride shining in her eyes when he had shown an interest and knew he had gained at least one point in her good books.

So the question was, how was he going to get more?

There were a few moments of tense silence before Nico spoke up again, knowing he was pushing her, but not being able to help himself.

"So what're you working on?"

"Exhibit A at your murder trial," Ali muttered, slamming the hammer down on the burning metal and hitting it into the shape she wanted.

"No, really?" Nico asked, trying to peer round her from his viewpoint on the other side of the room.

Ali turned around, her expression deadly serious as she held the hammer in a totally non-threatening way. "What? I was serious," she said, eyes wide, and Nico caught the evil glint in her eye and the bare hint of a smirk as she spun back around.

Nico suddenly found himself franticly searching for an excuse to leave that didn't make him sound like a complete coward and scared-cat.

Tia thankfully chose this moment to appear, and taking one glance at the truly terrified look on Nico's face, said something about a check up and promptly shooed him out.

"So, 'operation smile' doesn't seem to be working then huh?" Tia asked when they were safely out of earshot and sitting on the beach, each with a piece of strawberry in their wings. The colourful bird had insisted on naming his little plan the moment she had heard it. Nico had quickly begged her to not ever say it out loud in public.

"Well, she's talking to me," Nico said thoughtfully, trying to look on the bright side, "which is certainly an improvement on before."

"In that case, I have a tip for you," Tia smiled, holding up her strawberry, "that girl loves her food, and definitely has one hell of a sweet-tooth."

Which was why, for the next two days at every mealtime, Ali found herself turning around from her work to find a strawberry wrapped in leaves left in the vacant spot that Nico had been sitting whenever he was there. The first few times she paid no mind to it, simply throwing it away. It was only in the evening of the first day, after a particularly stressful afternoon where she simply couldn't get a certain piece right, when she turned around, the sweet fruit where it usually was that she gave in to the temptation.

She sighed deeply, unwrapping the strawberry and just looking at it with a deep scowl on her face.

Her mind went into conflict. Sure she had had a hard day, and she didn't particularly want to go out to get food, or force down any of the seeds her owner put out for her. But she didn't want to give in to any of his little schemes she knew he was plotting with Tia.

How else could he know Strawberry was her favourite?

* * *

><p>"Tia?" Tony exclaimed, rushing to his sister as she arrived in their shared hollow not one day later. "What happened to you?"<p>

The colourful bird looked rather grim as she landed, causing even Nico to look over in concern. She was soaking wet, which wasn't exactly strange, since it was raining, but the way she held her hand to her head indicated some sort of pain.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked, looking worried.

"Headache," Tia mumbled dragging her feet slightly as she made her way to her nest, falling on it in a undignified heap, "Ali's sick, don't even think about going near that place for at least three days, and after that be cautious, she gets ratty when she's ill."

"What's wrong with her?" Nico couldn't help but ask, finding himself strangely worried for the distant girl. He questioned himself for a moment, but shook it off.

"Nothing too bad, cold, sore throat, temperature, and apparently one hell of a migraine," Tia explained, pulling her blanket over her shoulders as she shuddered, "tried to kick me out, but can't get out of bed. Gave me an earful instead." She groaned, pulling the blanket right over her head.

"Well, she can't be left alone, not if she can't even get up," Tony said, looking concerned, despite the pairs obvious dislike of each other.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," Tia mumbled from under the blanket. Tony still looked concerned, but at the same time rather reluctant. Their past history put him off being in a room alone with her, especially when he knew she was in a bad mood, as anyone would be if they were bed-bound and ill.

Nico however, stayed silent, mulling it over. True, he wanted to get home, and being killed by a sick bird wasn't really in his to-do list, but he really should do something. Not being able to get up sucked, he knew that better than anyone, having spent a lot of the last four months bed-bound. He should do something, even if it's just bringing her something to eat. Eva had showed him how to make a hot fruit stew that she often made when the kids were sick. He used it to shut Pedro up when he got ill. That bird loved it so much he promised anything, even to stop whining. As it turns out he was pretty good cook.

He also knew Tia and Tony had a pretty sweet set up in their hollow, including somewhere to cook should they want something a bit hotter when the weather was bad (Ali had set up a chimney leading outside apparently).

"I know something that might make her feel better, Eva used to make it all the time when we were ill," Nico smiled, "you feel better almost instantly, that woman is a miracle worker sometimes," he stood up as the pair looked over curiously. Well, Tony looked over, Tia simply stuck out her wing from underneath the blanket and gave him the thumbs up.

"Great, so long as it stops her whining," she paused, then, "and I can have some too."

Nico laughed, shaking his head, "of course you can, I can assure you it's one of the best things you will ever taste."

"Modest," Tony muttered, smirking as he stuck his tongue out.

"What can I say?" Nico grinned, fluttering over to their kitchen area, where he hoped there were some pieces of fruit still stored from breakfast, "I learnt from the best."

* * *

><p>"Boy, you have every freaking right to be cocky about your talent," Tia exclaimed half an hour later after she had practically inhaled the hot bowl of fruit stew, "That was the nicest thing I have ever tasted." She smiled happily, falling back on her nest, completely full.<p>

"Agreed," Tony said, "seems you got all that skill," he chuckled, putting his bowl down, "I can't cook worth a damn."

"Of course, you've now got to go to the sick room and feed Ali," Tia grinned, "though she may stop yelling once you shove a spoonful of that in her beak."

"And hey," Tony cut in, "maybe you'll be lucky and she's lost her voice completely."

Twenty minutes later, with a lidded bowl of stew that Tia had fashioned a handle for out of twigs and a bit of cello tape, Nico stood at the entrance to Ali's workshop, which she had set a nest up in with such a wide smirk on his beak it might as well have split in two.

Sure, the girl looked absolutely miserable, mussed up feathers, curled up in her nest with a blanket up to her chin and surrounded by countless tissues, but the way she was yelling insults and for him to get out with absolutely no sound meant that she had indeed lost her voice. And suddenly his job was a lot easier.

"Oh shut your beak for a moment, I'm hardly here to make things worse for you," Nico said, holding up the bowl. Ali, still with a deep scowl, cocked her head, managing to look curious as well as annoyed. "Now come on, I can guarantee you this will make you feel at least a little bit better," he took the lid, marvelling at the fact that the heat had been retained, "and it's still hot, so eat up."

Ali avoided eye contact, sitting up but refusing to look at him as she crossed her wings over her chest as he, slightly cautiously, approached.

"Don't look so worried," he laughed as she eyed the spoon held out to her warily, "I'm not going to poison you." She looked up at him with one raised eyebrow, which he matched with both eyebrows raised and a soft smile.

Still trying to glare a hole through his skull, she reluctantly opened her beak, leaning forward to close it around the offered spoon.

The wide eyed look that appeared on her face was almost enough to make Nico laugh out loud, but since he wanted to keep his head, he kept it inside, simply smiling instead.

"Nice?"

Ali looked at him, her face going through a variety of expressions, confusion, wonder, an almost-smile, before it settled into the usual annoyed scowl she wore around him, though there was a hint of thankfulness in her eyes as she reached forward and took the bowl and spoon off of him with the barest of nods and began eating.

"That's what I thought," Nico murmured, standing up and moving to tidy up a little, throwing all the tissues (which he realised must have been stolen from the old man she lived with) into a metal bin in one corner, which was obviously what she was aiming for when she threw them across the room. However, very few made it to their intended target.

"What are you-" a cough, "doing?" Her voice was low and raspy, barely even there, and it was clear she had a cold and her nose was blocked up.

"Cleaning up," Nico said, chuckling a little, "or you'll be drowning in tissues by the time you're better." When he looked back at the sick bird, his expression morphed into one of concern at the way she was looking at him. There was definite conflict in her eyes, and she was looking a little, and only a little, guilty. "You alright?"

She snapped out it almost instantly, turning away with a haughty expression and her beak in the air. "Of course," she said quickly, but her voice obviously had enough as a coughing fit quickly evolved. Nico rushed over, rubbing soothing circles on her back, amazed when she didn't immediately try to take his wing off.

"I think you need to rest," he murmured, taking the empty bowl off of her and gently pushing her back down and tucking the blanket around her shoulders as the coughs died out. She kept her eyes closed, curling into a tight ball.

Before he left he quickly finished tidying up, leaving the place tidy, although the bin was slightly overflowing. Just as he was about to leave, a quiet, still slightly raspy voice made him stop and turn around.

"I still don't like you."

Nico smiled, rolling his eyes.

"I know."

* * *

><p>"I guess it's time for me to go," Nico said two days later, stretching out his wings and admiring the rather impressive scar he had acquired as he and his brother sat in their usual spot at the back of Ali's workshop, watching her work while Tia chatted aimlessly to the girl about whatever came into her head at the time.<p>

"Alright, see you back at the Hollow?" Tony said, barely glancing at him.

"Not what I meant."

The older bird snapped his head to the younger, eyes wide and body tensed up, "you mean leave?"

"Honestly, I'd love to stay, but I only intended on staying on the island a few days at the most, it's been over a month now. I'm stronger now, I'm able to move properly, it's time I headed home."

By this point even the girls had stopped their chatting and were looking over. Tia looked a little shocked, though she knew it was coming eventually, and Ali looked slightly conflicted. The female canary flicked her gaze between the project she was working on and Nico, who was looking apologetic.

"Two more days," she suddenly said, swallowing thickly.

"What?" both Nico and Tony asked, looking over with identical shocked expressions.

"Just wait two more days okay? Please?" she asked, trying very hard to keep her voice sounding more like she was simply asking and less like she was begging.

Nico stared at her, expression unreadable but eyes questioning. Despite the last comment the other day as he was leaving, anyone could see the noticeable change in her attitude towards him. While she still wasn't particularly smiley and welcoming, she wasn't trying to kick him back out of the door when he came to visit.

Tia, smirk so wide it was almost scary, looked between the pair, flicking her gaze to each one as she tried to figure out what had changed. Perhaps it was time for a little 'lady-chat'.

"Alright boys," she piped up, breaking the stunned silence, "I'm thinking it's dinner time, why don't you two go off hunter-gathering, and we'll see you on our usual spot on the beach in half an hour, kay?" she told them, making the suggestion sound more like an order as she shooed them off with her wings.

The brothers looked at each other, then at the girls, and simultaneously raised one eyebrow as if to say 'seriously?'.

"Seriously," Tia nodded, giving them her best glare, "now move, we'll see you in a bit."

With one glance at each other, the pair rolled their eyes and got up to leave.

The moment Tia was absolutely sure they were out of earshot she whirled on Ali, who shrank back looking guilty.

"You have a lot of explaining to do missus, tell me everything. What changed?"

Ali sighed, turning around to continue with her work as she talked, "I don't know, honestly," she picked up the piece of metal she was polishing and turned back around, leaning against the work top, "when I first saw him all I could think about was Tony, they look so alike, and all that crap we went through a couple of years ago. And then when I found out they were brothers, well, that just made me like him even less."

"So? What happened then?" Tia asked eagerly, leaning forward from her seat on the table and grinning.

"I don't know," Ali groaned, dropping her wings to her side in frustration, "he was annoying at first, always hanging around, and I was beginning to wonder what was in it for him. I guess I just realised, when he came to look after me when I was sick, he wasn't doing it for himself. I mean, he's only here for a few days, I knew he was moving on eventually, what could he possibly have to gain from it?" She sighed, fiddling with the small piece of metal in her wings.

Tia resisted the urge to snicker, but kept the grin on her face, nodding but not interrupting her.

"It's obvious they're brothers, he and Tony, they're so similar, but at the same time very, very different. For starters Nico can cook," they both laughed as Tia's expression went dreamy, "but, well, I don't know, I don't dislike him," Ali continued, rubbing the back of her neck, "but I can't exactly say I like him yet. Though I guess I'll never get the chance."

"Why did you want him to stay?" Tia asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"I'm making something," the canary replied cryptically.

"Oh come on, you have to tell me more that," she begged, putting on her best puppy dog eyes.

"Nuh-uh," Ali shook her head, smirking a little, "you'll see at the same time as everyone else, it shouldn't be long, I've got most of the pieces done, I just need to join them together and find a way of attaching them."

"Hmmm," Tia looked sceptical, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the shiny pile of metal shapes on the side, trying to figure out what they could be once attached together. As hard as she tried she couldn't make anything out of them. "Fine, be mysterious, but I think you do like him, you're just having trouble admitting to it."

Ali didn't say anything. She just threw her cleaning cloth at the grinning bird and pouted.

"Oh stop your pouting," Tia grinned, hopping off the table top, "you can finish that later, we have food to go eat."

* * *

><p>"I'm coming with you."<p>

"**What?**"

The three squawks almost echoed around the empty beach as three birds sat up and turned around to look at Tony with such speed it made them dizzy. The canary in question just stayed where he was, calm and collected as he laid on the sand and stared at the starry sky.

"Oh no you're not," Nico told him, shaking his head as he looked down at his brother with wide eyes, "you are not going to just get up and leave everything you know just to come with me."

"Tough luck brother, I'm coming," Tony replied, defiant as anything.

Tia laughed, though it sounded forced. "You are kidding right?" she asked, praying to whatever higher being was up there that he was. Her face dropped when he stayed silent. "You can't! You can't just up and leave. What about me?"

"You could come too?" the older bird suggested. Tia opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again as she thought about the offer.

"Wait, wait, wait, are you two actually seriously considering this?" Nico squeaked, looking between them, "you have your own lives here, you can't just leave them."

The pair of adopted siblings completely ignored him.

"I've always wanted to see more of the world," Tia was saying, looking incredibly thoughtful as she mulled the idea over, then she shook her head, a frown appearing on her face, "but that's not the point. Tony! You talk to me about these things first!" she scolded, "you can't just make a decision like that without discussing it with me first!"

"Sorry, it was kind of sudden," Tony apologized, wincing a little at her glare.

Meanwhile, Ali was simply staring, open beaked at her ex-boyfriend and best friend, wondering what on earth was going through their heads. Screw Tony, but what about Tia, that girl was her only friend, if she left...

Without warning, the canary got up and took off into the night, flying away as fast as she could.

Nico took a deep breath, trying not to snap at the pair, "you do realise you two are all that girl has left right? Who's she going to have if you both leave?"

Tia looked at the sand guiltily, "I'll go talk to her," she said, getting up and taking off after the upset girl.

With Tia gone, Nico rounded on his brother, "seriously Tony, what is going through your head? That's too big of a decision to be made on a whim."

"I know," Tony said, sitting up, "but I've been thinking, you're the only real family I have left," the elder took a deep breath, looking up and straight into his brother's identical eyes, "you're my little brother, I couldn't protect you before, but I promised myself when I realised who you were that I would from now on, whatever the cost."

Nico's resolve almost crumbled at that, and he had to stop himself from giving in. "While that is incredibly sappy and means a lot to me, thank you, you have to think about this. It's a huge decision, and not just something I'll let you change your mind about if that's what you choose."

Tony grinned, "I know, but this is what I want to do, and you cannot change my mind about it. So there!"

Nico stared at him for a moment, beak dropped open, "Geez, are you sure you're not the younger one here?" he asked incredulously.

"What?"

"'So there'? You sound like a kid!" Nico laughed, then, with one look at Tony's scowling face, laughed even harder. It took a few moments for him to calm down, but when he finally did, he turned to his brother, expression serious. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do? Cause once you make that decision, there's no going back. Unless you want me to be extremely disappointed."

"So you do want me to come?" Tony exclaimed, suddenly grinning.

"Of course I do you idiot," Nico laughed, giving him a one winged hug, "you're my big brother, I just don't want you to sacrifice everything you know just for me," he explained, "it's not fair on you."

"You know, you're really are quite selfless."

"You are kidding right? The fact that I'm even allowing you to come with makes me incredibly selfish."

* * *

><p>"<em>Como puede ser verdad."<em>

It was the next night before Nico saw Ali again. He was worried about how she was taking everything, but Tia had warned him not to go anywhere near the workshop, she was trying to finish something big and did not want to be disturbed under any circumstances on pain of death. Nico, wanting to keep his life and knowing she had the tools with which to take it away, stayed far away, spending the day on the beach with Tony. After her warning Tia whispered something to Tony then mysteriously vanished, meaning he couldn't ask her what had happened the night before.

In the evening however, both Tony and Tia had taken/dragged their respective sibling/best friend to an underground bird club in the nearby city. And immediately after arriving both promptly abandoned them to go up and sing, leaving the pair awkwardly standing on their own.

"_Last night I dreamt of san pedro, just like I'd never gone I knew the song,"_ initially it was Tony singing on his own, singing a song he had heard his adoptive parents sing many times when he had Tia had lived with them in Barcelona, _"A young girl with eyes like the desert, it all seems like yesterday, not far away."_

"Hey," Nico started, approaching the female canary with a slight awkwardness and nervousness, "listen, about last night," he said, cutting straight to the chase.

"_Tropical the island breeze,"_ Tia joined in at this point, and the pair sang together, _"All of nature wild and free. This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita. And when the Samba played, the sun would set so high, ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby."_

"There's nothing to be said," Ali cut him off, "you and Tony are leaving, Tia's staying here, so it's not all bad, okay? Honestly I'm sort of glad he's going with you."

"But you're not happy," Nico said slowly, looking almost surprised at the words coming out of his own mouth.

"_I fell in love with San Pedro,"_ this time it was Tia's turn for a solo, _"warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me, Te dijo te amo, I prayed that the days would last, they went so fast."_

"What?"

"You're not happy, something's getting you down here, but I'm not going to pry if you don't want me to know."

Ali's eyes widened and she almost smiled. Almost.

"Thank you."

"_Tropical the island breeze,"_ again they sang together for the chorus, _"All of nature wild and free. This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita. And when the Samba played, the sun would set so high, ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby."_

"Dance with me?"

"_Yo quiero estar donde el sol toca cielo,"_ Tia sang in her native language, _"Cuando es hora de siesta tú los puedes ver pasar, Caras tan bellas, sin importar nada,"_ Tony joined in for the last part _"Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl."_

Ali looked shocked, then turned her head away, frowning. "I don't dance."

"_Last night I dreamt of san pedro, it all seems like yesterday, not far away."_

"So?"

"_Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free, this is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita."_

"So no."

"_And when the Samba played, the sun would set so high, ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby."_

His face looked like she had just kicked him, and Ali sighed deeply, holding out her wing. "Fine," she bit out, not wanting the bambi eyes to be pulled on her. With a smile he took it, pulling her on to the dance floor. Almost immediately the song changed into something much slower, and the girl made a mental note to brutally murder Tia later on.

Although, and she wouldn't admit this to anyone ever, there was a definite flutter in her heart as he pulled her closer, and her breath caught in her throat as one of his wings wrapped around her, the other taking her wing in his. There was something...right, about it all. Something she never felt with Tony.

"_Watching every motion in my foolish lover's game__,"_ Tia was singing on her own this time, smiling widely as she watched her best friend get pulled onto the dance floor and into Nico's wings, _"__On this endless ocean finally lovers know no shame__, __Turning and returning to some secret place inside__, __Watching in slow motion as you turn around and say, Take my breath away."_

Nico softly sang along with the lyrics as they swayed gently, "_take my breath away."_

"_Watching I keep waiting still anticipating love__, __Never hesitating to become the fated ones__, __Turning and returning to some secret place to hide__, __Watching in slow motion as you turn to me and say, take my breath away, my love, take my breath away."_

Ali rested her chin on his shoulder, leaning her head against his as her mind went into overdrive, the paranoid side of her brain telling her someone was up to something, while the rest of her brain and her body told that side to screw it all.

"_Through the hourglass I saw you, in time you slipped away__, __when the mirror crashed I called you, and turned to hear you say__, __if only for today I am unafraid."_

"Come with me," Nico whispered in her ear, almost making her jump, and she pulled away slightly to look at him, eyes wide and questioning.

"What?" she asked, shocked and disbelieving of her own hearing. Her eyes searched his for any sign of being played with, but found nothing but seriousness and truth.

"Come with me," he repeated, tightening his grip on her waist ever so slightly.

"Why? If Tia put you-"

"_Take my breath away."_

"Because I want you to," he cut her off, smiling softly and taking a deep breath, "it's incredibly selfish of me I know, but I really want you to come. I know it won't be home for you really, but I'll do whatever it take to make it as close as possible."

"_Watching every motion in my foolish lover's game__, __On this endless ocean finally lovers know no shame__, __Turning and returning to some secret place inside__, __Watching in slow motion as you turn around and say, Take my breath away, my love, take my breath away."_

Ali stared at him, opening and closing her beak like a goldfish, for once in her life completely speechless. Instead she leant her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes tightly.

"This has never been home for me anyway."

"_Take my breath away."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Look, I don't care, you give every single detail you know!"<em>

"_But I don't know much."_

"_Not interested in what you don't know, just tell me what you do know!"_

A Whimper.

"_Well, I know he got to Rome, and two birds put him on a wrong plane. He ended up in Shanghai, then went to Tokyo, and soon after got a boat to Hawaii, which I think is where he is now. Apparently he made quite a few friends along the way."_

"_Hmmm, this could be problematic. Names?"_

"_Names?"_

"_Friends, you said he made friends, they may come to his aid if they know he's in trouble, I need names."_

"_W-well, there were a pair of owls in Rome, Joseph and Joshua, and a white dove named Adriana, but she's long gone, home to Mozambique I think, there was a Crane in Shanghai, Hong-Xian, quite an old guy apparently, and a young bird in Tokyo called Miyoko, she owns 'Rumours' over there."_

"_Oh, that might work."_

"_What?"_

"_Never mind, anything else?"_

"_We don't know anything about who he met in Hawaii, but we're fairly sure he's still there."_

A deep sigh.

"_Thank you, you can go now."_

"_No problem. I hope you find him."_

"_Me too."_

There was a long pause as the small robin backed out the room and took off into the warm summer air. The other bird sat back, thinking hard. Then, once she had made a decision, she stood up, flying over to a entranceway and yelling down.

"_Hey! Marius! Pack your bags! We're going to Rio!"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Gah, this was such a hard chapter to write, it was slowly driving me insane right up until this evening. I've been trying to write all week, but ever since my last update life as just been absolutely insane. Two long days out, one to London, one to a festival, and then working every other day of the week. Today was my first day off, so I decided to just sit down and write (After a driving lesson, dying my hair and cleaning my hamsters cage :P Stupid life.) **

**So, how are you all? :) I tried to keep more to the drama in this one, and begin to introduce a bit of Romance, but I'm starting to hint towards a bit of action and the end. My previous estimate of ten chapters was a bit of an exaggeration, it'll probably be less, but we'll see :)**

**Songs (As usual I don't own either of these):**

**'La Isla Bonita' - Madonna, but I'm going with the Glee version, since it's a girl/boy duet and that's what I was going for.**

**'Take My Breath Away' - Berlin**


	14. The Flight

"What _are_ you doing?"

"Shut it a minute, you'll see when I'm done."

"T-that tickles!"

"I know, now shush before I hit you with your own hat."

"...Alright."

"There, done."

Nico, unbelievably curious as to what Ali had been doing to his feet for the past ten minutes, pulled his blindfold up and looked down. And almost fell off his seat.

That girl was a genius.

Attached were what looked a little like human shoes, but metal and fit over each individual talon perfectly, attached underneath with a thin strip of leather. The small individual pieces that fit together so flawlessly meant they moved in whatever way he moved his foot. It clipped on around his ankle, fitting so snugly it barely looked like anything was there.

"Well?" Ali asked, sounding slightly nervous. Nico barely looked at her, still staring open beaked at the masterpiece. He tried to talk, to answer her question, but he was struck completely speechless. He put both feet down, almost laughing at the tiny clipping sound they made as they touched the ground.

"Wow," was the only thing he could come out with.

"I've had the designs for ages," Ali explained, chuckling nervously as she stood up, "but they were never right, I couldn't get it to work, the metal was always too thick and heavy. But I've been experimenting and found a new way that makes it thinner and lighter."

"Why?" It appeared that all Nico could get out was one word sentences. Ali raised a questioning eyebrow, not quite getting what he was asking. Why what?

"Elaborate?"

"Everything?"

Ali laughed a little, a sound, after a week of nothing but glares and frowns, Nico simply could not get enough of.

"Well, I love the design, but I don't really want them for myself, and I can't see them on Tia, and after you helped me when I was sick, well...I just wanted to say thank you," she said with a timid smile, "oh, and I talked to Tia, who has told me you like to dance a bit, they make it sound awesome."

"They're...amazing," Nico said, standing up, still with an awe-struck expression fixed on his face. He looked up, grinning at the girl leaning on the worktop in front of him, noticing for the first time how she was covered head to toe in smudges and spots of soot and looking completely exhausted, but a smug smile was clear on her beak. "You're amazing," he finished, smiling wide.

"I know," Ali said, sticking her tongue out, "not sure what I'm going to do with all this stuff though," she said, sighing as she looked around her workshop forlornly, "I can hardly take it with me."

"I wouldn't worry too much, I know plenty of places you can set up and I have a friend who can get you some new kit," Nico smiled, twisting one of his feet around in different ways to see where his limit was. It would appear there wasn't one. "And if there's anything you simply cannot part with I'm sure we can find a way to bring it along."

"Well, there may be one or two things."

* * *

><p>"What took you two so long then huh?" Tia asked two and a half hours later when the pair finally on the rooftop of a low building next to the beach in the islands main city. She nudged Ali, winking suggestively.<p>

"You can get your mind out of the gutter," the canary replied, playfully shoving her away, "despite what you seem to think, there is nothing going on."

"And I still don't believe you," Tia argued, smirking.

"Tia, shut it," Nico told her, "if you must know, the reason we took so long was because Miss indecisive here," he pointed at Ali, "wanted to take a few things from the workshop and couldn't make her mind up." Tony chuckled at this, but was quickly cut off with a glare from Ali. "Now come on, I'm starting to get twitchy, I just want to be home already."

"Alright, Mr impatient," Ali murmured, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Nico just grinned.

But that quickly fell off his beak as something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, somewhere along the beach. He wasn't entirely sure what it was that caught his notice, but when he looked harder along the busy beach, he couldn't see anything familiar or anything he might mistake as being familiar. Just people enjoying their holiday, a seagull or two, but nothing important. And there was no one screaming, so he could hopefully assume it wasn't Vincent.

But just as he began to turn away he saw it again. A flash of blue through the crowds. He blinked, shielding his eyes from the sun, but, again, couldn't see anything.

"You alright?" Tony's concerned voice broke him out of his thoughts. The younger blinked a few times, throwing one last glance at the beach.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good," he smiled, resisting the urge to look again, "I just thought I saw..." he paused, frowning, "never mind, let's go." He took off, soaring quickly over to the vast cruise ship that would take them to Costa Rica, not looking back.

Ali stared after him, a strange look on her face. Tony and Tia just looked at each other, then at the spot he had been looking at. Seeing nothing of interest, just a several families on holiday, they both shrugged, taking off after him, Ali close behind.

* * *

><p>"Honey, what's wrong?" Blu asked, wrapping his wing around his wife and looking at her in concern. Jewel shook her head, taking her eyes off the tiny dot she was staring at through all the humans on the busy beach, absolutely sure whatever it was, it looked unbelievably familiar.<p>

"I'm fine, just trying to figure out what..." she trailed off, looking back at the spot and finding there was nothing there. Her shoulders slumped and she pouted, knowing there was something there just a second ago.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged it off, turning back to Blu with a smile, "just my imagination."

Blu laughed, turning her around and leading her back to their little group, where Linda and Tulio were enjoying their honeymoon, Eva and Rafael looked like they were falling asleep in the sun, and their kids were currently burying Pedro in the sand. Jewel smiled at the scene, but couldn't shake the feeling there was something missing, and whatever it was that she had just seen, it was something important. Something important that she had just missed.

But there was no doing anything about it now, and her thoughts were drawn away when her daughter, now grown up a little so she was nearly half her height, practically jumped her, laughing and a little damp from where she had been in the water.

"Ma, come play with me!" the little girl begged, pulling at her mother's wing. Jewel laughed, pushing whatever it was to the back of her mind as she let her daughter drag her off towards to ocean.

* * *

><p>The sun was just beginning to set, casting long shadows and a bright pink-purple glow over the ship. They had been on the water for three days now, and it seemed that Tony was at his limit. The poor canary had been seasick since they set off. The first couple of hours were fine, and they spent it exploring the luxury ship. Almost the entire deck was covered in various pools, golf course, deck chairs and several bars. Inside there was everything from a shopping centre to a gym. And after several floors of cabins were the restaurants, cafes, more shops and even a few clubs. Ultimate luxury.<p>

But the oldest canary found it difficult to enjoy said luxury when he was constantly throwing up over the edge of the boat.

He was beginning to find it hard to keep his food down for more than a few hours.

That evening though, after one particularly bad bout of sickness, Nico stayed with him while Tia and Ali went out and enjoyed a girly evening. Tia had been doing so well in looking after him, and even Ali had shown a bit of concern, but Nico had shooed them off, saying they needed the time off to enjoy themselves.

"How're ya feeling?" he asked gently, rubbing his brother's back in soothing circles as the older bird sat back from the edge, groaning.

"How'd you think?" He asked, still managing to be sarcastic, "like utter crap."

Nico sat down fully next to him, trying to think of anything, any kind of remedy that might help. No one he knew had really ever been on a boat before. Save Blu. Has he ever said anything? He was beginning to wish he was listening when Blu was trying to be smart.

Horizon. His brain was telling him one remedy had something to do with staring at the horizon. Well, it was worth a shot.

"Okay, I'm not sure how well this would work, but let's try it. Come with me," Nico said, helping the older bird stand up, a little shakily, and flew up, leading him to the top deck where none of the humans were allowed. Once landed he led the bird to a shady spot against the wall and sat him down, settling down next to him. "Now, just focus on the horizon," he told him, pointing to where the sky met the sea.

There was silence for a few moments as Tony did what he said.

"That...actually feels a bit better," he said eventually, keeping his eyes on the sea and sky. Nico gave an inward sigh of relief. He hated seeing anyone get so sick, so it was nice to know that he was at least feeling a little better. That and it hopefully meant no more whining.

Eventually however, the sun set fully, and there was soon no horizon to look at, it just became black. Nico, who was incredibly comfy in his spot, was feeling like he was about to fall asleep when he heard a groan and felt a head lean on his shoulder. He looked down in concern, seeing Tony leaning against him, face contorted with pain. Not knowing what else he could do, the younger bird spread out a wing around his brothers shoulders, letting him lean against him fully.

"_Another summer day has come and gone away, in Paris and Rome, but I wanna go home_," he began to softly sing, staring up at the clear starry sky, "_Maybe surrounded by a million people I still feel all alone, I just wanna go home Oh I miss you, you know,_" He could feel Tony sag against him, and he knew he was beginning to fall asleep. _"__And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you, Each one a line or two, I'm fine baby, how are you? Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough, my words were cold and flat, and you deserve more than that.__"_

Nico let his mind wonder at this point, still absent-mindedly singing quietly. He wondered how everyone back at home were getting on, did Miyoko get the message to them that he was alright like she said she would, or would they still be worrying that something had happened? Hopefully the former. Either way there wasn't much he could do about it.

"_Another aeroplane, another sunny place, I'm lucky I know, but I wanna go home, mm, I've got to go home. Let me go home, I'm just too far from where you are, I wanna come home__."_

It was times like this, when he finally had time to sit and relax and just _think,_ did he realize just how much he missed Rio, how much he missed his family, his friends. Even during the busy times, the excitement and the adventure, there was almost something missing, like a gaping black hole in his chest. He sometimes wished he had gotten up that morning when Pedro had asked him to, or that he had just waited with Alistair until the snow had cleared and gotten a plane straight home, or that...

Not that it mattered now.

Despite everything, he knew, deep down, that he wouldn't trade the experience for the World. The birds he had met, the friends he made, everything that he had seen. And he could now say that he had actually been around the world. Literally.

"_And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life, it's like I just stepped outside when everything was going right. And I know just why you could not come along with me, that this is not your dream, but you always believed in me__."_

Tony had definitely fallen asleep by this point, expression calm and serene. Nico could feel himself drifting too, the distant sounds of music and the soft rock of the ship lulling him to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Alistair?"<p>

The high-pitched call echoed through the empty room as a small French sparrow slipped through the wide open window of the vast palace in London.

"Alistair, you 'ere?"

"I don't think he's here Cosette," came a lower-pitched voice from behind her.

"Marius, we've literally taken two steps into the room and it's midnight, ever thought 'e might be sleeping?"

"I was," a groggy voice from across the room caught their attention, and the tired form of Alistair came into view through the dark, landing on the windowsill next to them. Cosette smiled smugly at her husband before moving forward and hugging her old friend tightly. The larger bird hugged back lazily with a wide yawn.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked, looking incredibly confused.

"Ve have a bit of a problem, and it's easier to get in here at night, there's too many people during the day," Cosette explained, "can we sit down somewhere, this might take a while."

Once they were comfortably seated Cosette launched straight into an explanation.

"Remember Nico?"

"The little canary determined to get to Rio, despite the howling snowstorm? Who could forget," the British bird smiled.

"Well, 'e's in trouble, and ve need your help."

"What kind of trouble?"

"When ve found him, he had broken his wing, and had to stay with me for a while. Now, I'm sure you've heard of Vincent, our wonderful eagle friend?" Alistair nodded, "well, he managed to get a hold of me several months back, and Nico, being the apparent suicidal idiot that he is," a shrug and a nod, "managed to get us all out, and then ve burnt down the building with several of his henchmen inside. But Vincent got out, and he is seriously pissed off at him. I'll give you the full story later, but he managed to get on the wrong plane in Rome and ended up in China. Despite this, Vincent seems to be keeping up with him, only a few steps behind. But he's just found out where he's headed, and is determined to beat him there, and probably try to kill him."

Alistair fought to keep the shocked look off his face, failing as his eyes widened.

"We need to help him," Cosette continued, "he would do the same thing for any of us, already has once for me, but I can't do it on my own."

"You mean go to Rio?" he looked a little reluctant.

"You've always said you vanted to see more of the world," Cosette said, trying to convince him to the cause. Alistair still looked hesitant, understandable, he had the perfect life here, but Cosette still tried, "please Alistair, I really need your help here. You and Marius may be the only ones able to keep me sane, looking at some of the other birds I've managed to rope in."

The swallow chewed on his lower beak, looking, and feeling guilty for even thinking about turning her down. After a few moments of though in which he weighed up the pros and cons, he sighed, nodding slowly.

"Alright, I'll come," he sighed, giving in, "but not for long, I have an owner who would miss me a lot if I were to go missing."

Cosette grinned, jumping up and tackling him in a hug, "Thank you!" she smiled, stepping back, "we need to fly down to Rome first, I've already spoken to some others via the club in the city, 'Rumours', one girl from Tokyo is coming down with a couple of her sisters, via Shanghai to see if she can find Hong-Xian and then everyone's meeting us in Rome."

Alistair looked at her with a completely blank expression, trying to get his head around what she had just said. "Alright, but you'll have to go into more detail on the way, I don't think I got any of that," he said, "when are we leaving?"

"As soon as possible."

* * *

><p>"Ah, Costa Rica! Sweet, sweet land," Tony cried dramatically, rocketing off the ship the moment they hit land a week later, landing and practically kissing the ground.<p>

"Ah," Tia breathed in as she landed next to him, "I can smell adventure," she grinned, looking around the busy dock. Nico landed next to her, his expression one of unbelief and exasperation.

"I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough adventure for one life time thank you very much," he said, rolling his eyes.

"So what now?" Ali asked, possibly the only one keeping her head in the game and focusing on what to do next. That may, of course, have something to do with the fact that she had a slightly heavy pack on her back holding a few small items she had insisted on bringing from her workshop.

The three looked at her, wide eyed, like they hadn't actually thought that far ahead.

"Well," Nico started, looking behind him at the slowly sinking sun, "I think Tony needs a few hours to get his head together and get over his seasickness, so I would suggest we set up camp here somewhere and then in the morning, start flying."

"Do you know the way?" Tia asked, tilting her head a little.

"Do I look like I've done this before?" Nico asked dryly, raising an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes, "no, honestly I don't know the way, but can it be really that hard to work out? I've seen maps, I know the general direction."

Ali just shook her head, "or you could do the simple thing and ask for directions," she suggested, pointing out the obvious. Tony and Nico just looked at her like she was insane, for which they received a glare, a tut and a murmur of "boys."

Nico started to grin, but suddenly got a cold shiver and a weird feeling, like he was being watched. He distantly heard Tony and Ali say his name, but all he could feel was a cold fear.

He was here.

He looked up, and there, sat calmly on top of a building, was the creature that haunted his dreams, the one he was constantly running away from since Paris. How did he know he was here? How could he have followed him? And why wasn't he doing anything now?

The large bird then did something that chilled him to the bone.

He smiled.

A grin that spoke so many things.

He knew something.

With one final glance at the Canary, the eagle took off, flying away from the group. Flying south.

This did not bode well.

"We need to move," he suddenly said, not taking his eyes off the disappearing form of Vincent.

"What?" Tony asked, his voice laced with concern, "was that...?" he trailed off, remembering their conversation on the beach the night before they had left where Nico had told them everything. He had decided it was only fair that they knew what they were getting themselves into. They came anyway.

Nico nodded, swallowing thickly. "Something's wrong. He didn't try to come after me, which means he's planned something bigger."

"He knows where you're headed," Tia said, her expression grim.

Nico nodded slowly, "I think so," he said, closing his eyes against the nightmare happening around him, "we can't let him beat us to Rio. If he comes after me, fine, I probably deserve that, but if he goes after my family..." he cut himself off, not wanting to think about it.

"Let's not think about it," Ali said, "but we need to cover as much land as we can every day, stopping only when we need to."

Nico suddenly felt unbelievably grateful for these birds who accepted him and his situation so readily and willingly. He could see the fear in each of their faces, but they stuck with him all the same. This obviously showed through in his expression, because the next thing he knew he was engulfed in a big, if slightly reluctant on Ali's part, group hug.

He put his wings around Ali and Tony, who were on either side, grinning widely despite his situation.

"We're not leaving you," Ali said softly as they pressed their heads together, smiling. Nico laughed, tightening his hold.

"Thanks guys," he smiled, "you have no idea what that means to me."

"I'm sure," Tia chuckled, "now, while we're here, plan of action?"

"I say we go with Ali's idea," Nico suggested, " we have around four thousand miles to travel here, so we cover as much land as we can, and only stop when we absolutely need to. Sleeping and eating."

"Eat while flying if you can," Tony said, laughing a little, "so we have a plan?"

"We have a plan."

* * *

><p>They followed their plan to a T, taking off from the port almost immediately, and doing whatever they could to keep at a steady speed, flying for at least twelve hours a day, with short breaks. When they could find it, they stayed in the air current, gliding for as long as possible to rest their wings. This little trick was particularly handy when Nico, who had managed to seriously damage both wings in less than four months, began to feel the strain, still feeling a twinge of pain if he over-exerted his muscles.<p>

They reached Brazil within three weeks, after stopping for directions countless times, much to the boy's annoyance. ("I'm fairly sure it's this way, just cause you can't carry a map in your heads."-Tony. "Cause our heads actually have something in them." - Ali) But by that time, flying was beginning to take its toll.

"Just one day," Tia begged, dropping to the branch of the tree they were planning on sleeping in that night, "one day of rest and then we can be on our way."

"Agreed," came the muffled voice of Tony, who was already laying on his front, wings spread out either side of him, "I'm exhausted. And don't deny it Nico, but I can see the lack of sleep starting to get to you."

"And we've already had to witness you with little sleep once," Ali cut in before Nico could argue, "it was not pretty, if a little funny, though that may have been because I was on the other side of the room and just watching."

Nico looked reluctant. He was so close now, he just wanted to be home already. That was when he heard it, and inspiration struck.

"The train!" He shot upwards, out of the leaves, leaving three confused birds behind him. He burst out of the tree, and there, probably a few hundred feet away, was the train line. It was perfect. They could rest up for a day, but not fall behind. That is, if they got the right train. He didn't particularly want a repeat of the plane incident.

"Whoever thought of public transport is a genius," Tony said when he gave them the idea.

It took a while to find one that was going in the right direction, it was a obviously a rarely used track, but by midday the next day they were comfortably settled on top of a carriage. And there they stayed for the three day, two thousand mile journey until the train reached its final destination; Brasília, the countries capital. They flew from there, not wanting to waste any more time, especially after finding out they only had around five hundred miles to go.

Needless to say, Nico was over the moon, his cheerful attitude infectious, even Ali cracked a smile or two as they flew for the next week.

"So where exactly are we?"

They had been flying over a city for about three hours when Tia had put forth the suggestion that they find out where they were. Nico had found a tourist map that showed the city, and in the corner, where said city was in relation to the rest of the country.

"Sao Paulo," he called down to the three birds on the ground, looking a little guilty.

"And where's Rio?"

"About two hundred miles east of here."

"So we went wrong somewhere?" Tia asked, raising an eyebrow while Ali muttered something about asking for directions.

"Do I look like a navigator?" Nico deadpanned with a dry expression.

"Obviously not," Ali called back, "you proved that when you went the wrong way round the world!"

"That was not my fault and you know it."

"Alright you two," Tia stood between the arguing canaries as Nico flew down, "we're all tired, let's not bite each other's heads off okay? It was a simple mistake and it's honestly not that bad, we can probably fly it in a day, two at most."

Both looked away, glaring at the ground while Tia glared at them both. Tony stood slightly to the side, not wanting to be involved.

Nico took a deep breath, looking around, "alright, well, there's not much we can do about it now, let's find something to eat, have a rest, and we'll move on first thing tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry."<p>

Nico turned around at the quiet voice behind him, seeing Ali standing there with a deep frown, a pout, and two strawberries. He smiled, patting the spot next to him. He was sat the on the edge on top of a tall apartment block, watching the cars and people below, watching the bright lights of the city at night and thinking of how much it reminded him of home and how close they were.

The Hawaiian sat down, handing him the larger of the two pieces of fruit, which he gratefully took.

"I didn't mean to snap at you earlier," she continued, "I guess this whole journey is just getting to me a bit."

"I think it's getting to us all," Nico agreed, "but I'm sorry too, I'm starting to get a little twitchy, knowing I'm so close, I can almost touch it, but not being able to get there just yet. Everyone has their limits."

"And this is obviously testing ours," Ali commented, starting to relax a little as he took a small bite of her strawberry, the frown falling off her face, being replaced with a look of melancholy. Nico laughed a little, watching the humans below.

"Well, what's life without a little challenge?"

"Boring," Ali replied with a small smile, resting her head on his shoulder. Nico stiffened, and she sat up, "too far?" she asked, looking a little worried. Nico just smiled, shaking his head.

"I just...wasn't expecting it," he said, wrapping a wing around her shoulders and pulling her in once more.

"I like to do unexpected things every now and again," the smaller grinned as he leant his head on hers, and she couldn't help but think back to the dance. It was so long ago, and yet it still only felt like yesterday. All those days flying had just blended into one by this point and she was starting to wonder if they had even happened.

"Well, the unexpected is what makes life interesting."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Can't. Stop. Writing...As you can probably tell by the speediness of this update, I have no life. But then, you're probably not complaining :)**

**Before I continue, I'm starting to wonder if I did something wrong somewhere. Not that I'm immensely grateful for the reviews I have gotten so far (EmmerzK and ILOVENICO1000x, you two are amazing for sticking with me and I love you both) I have started to notice the lack of and it's beginning to worry me. I understand you all have a life and sometimes don't have time, and I don't want to sound like I'm whining or anything, but I love hearing what others think of my work, good or bad, and if you don't like it for whatever reason, don't hesitate to tell me, I'm always willing to improve. **

**So, back to the chapter, they're nearly home, but Vincent is still at large and more threatening than ever. I can guarantee you that in the next chapter there will be action, adventure, reunions and maybe even a healthy dose of romance if I'm feeling nice. **

**A huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys are awesome :)**

**Song: 'Home' - Michael Buble.**


	15. The Battle

"Wow."

"I know."

"Just Wow."

"Tony."

"What?"

"You're impressed, we get it, now shut up."

They had made it. After just over six months of trekking the world, of pain, tears and struggles, through good times and bad, Nico was now standing on the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio De Janeiro, finally home.

And the feeling was indescribable. So many emotions flitted through his mind at the same time, almost overwhelming him. The only thing keeping him from tipping over the edge and reducing him to a watery puddle of emotion was the knowledge that Vincent was sure to be here somewhere, and he would not be happy or calm until he knew he and his family were out of harm's way for good.

"I can't believe this," he murmured, still trying to drink in the sight of the city glowing in the early evening sun.

"I know," Tony grinned, pulling his brother in for a one winged hug, Ali doing the same on his other side and to Tia, who began to giggle. That little chuckle was obviously infectious and it wasn't long before they were all laughing and cheering, overjoyed they were finally here after such a long journey.

"Not to be the voice of doom here or anything," Ali started when they had all calmed down, "but we're fairly sure our lovely friend Vincent is down there right?"

"Yeah," Nico sighed, frowning, "and I think I know where he might have gone first."

* * *

><p>The Alley was a mess. Even worse than the monkey incident the year before. Boxes and fruit were strewn everywhere, splinters of wood from broken boxes littered the ground and the tarpaulin that covered the club was ripped to shreds. Thankfully, there was no sign of bloodshed, but this didn't mean no one had gotten hurt.<p>

Ali seemed calmest, as always, hopping around the pieces of wood and fruit, examining the area with a deep frown. Tia and Tony were staring around in shock, both beginning to wonder what could've happened and what they had gotten themselves into. But when the turned to Nico, they remembered why.

The canary was showing all the signs of a full blown panic attack, wide eyed and shock still, with sharp breaths coming quickly, swaying slightly on his feet. Tia got to him first, pulling him into a tight hug, stroking his feathers softly and murmuring soothingly in his ear.

"They're okay, everyone's still okay, I promise," she whispered while Tony and Ali watched in worry, "you'll see, bastard just wants to scare us, that's all he's doing. He wants us to worry, cause if we worry we can't think properly, and he'll have the upper wing," she pulled back, looking into his dark eyes, "we need to keep a level head here, stay ahead of the game, alright?"

Nico nodded, taking deep breaths to calm his breathing, swallowing thickly.

"Speaking of keeping ahead of the game, we need to move," Ali's voice suddenly broke the silence that had fallen, grabbing Tony and pushing them all under a cloth covered table close by, "he's here."

"What's the plan?" Tony asked, but this was where Nico blanked them out, his mind going at a hundred miles an hour.

Vincent was after him and only him, other birds had already suffered for it, even if no one had gotten hurt, which, knowing Vincent was unlikely, they had still lost their precious club yet again. He hadn't wanted to pull the three birds he had grown to love into this as well, no matter how willing they were. It was bad enough they had all left their homes, their lives to follow him here. If any of them got hurt because of him he didn't know what he would do.

Tia was as close as a sister, and if you wanted to be really technical, she was, through Tony. He had made a real connection with her, initially over Ali, but then they realised their shared love for music, particularly Samba and they instantly connected, talking for hours on end like they had known each other all their lives.

And Tony, he was the older brother he had always dreamed about, the older sibling he had never had. After years of helping to look after seventeen younger siblings he finally had someone to look after him. He loved the guy, even during his more nerdier times. Actually, especially during his nerdier times. They connected from the moment they met and were already teasing and acting like brothers as little as hours after realising they were.

Ali. Despite her cold and somewhat sarcastic front, she was really a big softie who just wants to be loved. He felt things around her that he had never felt with anyone else before, all those girls who claimed to have 'loved' him because of his status at the club, even Miyoko, who he did love, but not in the same way. Their kiss was more of a heat of the moment. But Ali, being with her felt so right, so perfect, if a little challenging at times. He had grown to truly love her, she was someone he now couldn't imagine life without, and if anything happened to her because of him, he would never be able to live with the guilt.

There was only one thing he could do...

"NICO!"

But before that...

"Cosette?" the canary's beak dropped open at the sight of the French sparrow who had picked him up and saved his life so long ago, someone he had never expected to see again. His beak dropped lower when he took in the crowd standing behind her. Marius, who he guessed he should've expected, Alistair, Joe and Josh, Miyoko and what looked like three of her sisters, though he couldn't tell which ones, and even Hong-Xian had ducked under the table, bending his long thin neck at what looked like a really awkward angle.

"I thought I saw you dart under here," the French bird smirked as several chuckled at his bewildered expression, "we figured you might need some help so we jumped on a plane-"

"The right one," the twins cut in, completely in unison, grinning cheerfully. They shrank back, slightly fearful as Nico quickly got over his shock and shot them a dark glare.

"And flew over," Cosette finished, giving the pair a rather dark look herself.

"H-how...what...I...I just," Nico was completely speechless, which just intensified the smirk on Cosette's beak. After several seconds of stuttering, the poor bird barely managing two words of a sentence, she smiled, holding out a wing in invitation.

"Come here you idiot," she said softly. Nico complied without a second thought, flying into her open wings and burying his beak in her feathers, hugging her tightly. She laughed as she wrapped her wings around the smaller bird, resting her cheek on top of his head.

"Je vous ai manqué," he whispered into her shoulder.

"Je vous ai manqués trop mon chérie," Cosette murmured, grinning wide. She pulled away, if a little reluctantly and looked down at him, "Content de voir que mes leçons ne vont pas à l'gaspilleur."

Nico laughed, "Bien sûr que non. Je ne pratiquent encore."

"He can speak French? Since when could he speak French?" Tia hissed to Tony, who shrugged, still looking a bit shocked at the sudden group appearance. She turned to Ali, who had a wing over her beak and a strange look on her face, "oh, I so know what you're thinking," she said with a smirk. Ali snapped her head to her best friend, glowering.

"Am not!" she snapped, though a faint blush could be seen through her feathers.

Nico turned around at this point, trying to glare but unable to keep the smile of his face. "Tia! Mind. Gutter. Out." He told her sharply, to which she just smirked even wider.

"You were thinking it too," she muttered, turning her head away.

Nico rolled his eyes, turning back to the group. "I can't believe you guys all came, it's just...I don't know what to say, how'd you find each other?"

"Well, Cosette organised it all," Alistair said, smiling wide, "she came to me in person."

"And contacted me through 'Rumours'," Miyoko continued, pushing through the crowd to hug the slightly smaller bird tightly, "I found Hong-Xian on the way over and we all met in Rome where we found these two idiots," she pointed at the Twins who tried to act insulted, but were grinning too much.

"We found a plane and within days we were here and trying to find you," the Twins both finished, pushing to the front and trying to hug him, but were stopped when Nico glared at them, holding up a wing.

"I also sent a message to Adriana," Cosette told him, pushing the pair away and standing in front of him once more, "but she was back home and wouldn't have made it in time."

Nico opened and closed his beak a few times, too shocked and choked up to give any sort of reply, when Ali's voice, grim but with a lace of fear that shot chills down Nico's spine, spoke up.

"Guys? Again, sorry for the whole voice of doom thing, but I believe we still have a problem," she said, pointing outside, "namely one eagle, anyone got a plan?"

Nico steeled his expression, knowing he had to go through with what he had to do.

"I do," he said firmly, trying to stop his voice from shaking.

"Great," Tia said with a small smile, "do tell."

Nico took a deep breath, unable to keep his eyes off Ali, who was looking at him expectantly and fearfully. He swallowed hard, closing his eyes for a few seconds, before taking a few steps towards her, wrapping one wing round her waist, the other round the back of her head and kissed her hard on the beak, holding her like he never wanted to let her go. It lasted seconds, but felt like a lifetime, but he pulled away, staying close for a few more seconds, leaning his forehead against hers, just staring into her dark blue eyes, which were wide with fear and shock.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, giving her one last peck on the beak and placing his cap on her head, before flying out as quickly as he could, under the table cloth and out into the open, out to Vincent.

He appeared almost instantly, and Nico had to do a body roll mid-air to avoid the talons aimed straight for him. He shot upwards, flying faster than ever before in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and those razor sharp talons and rather pointy beak.

In all honesty, he didn't have a plan. He was kind of hoping something would come to him but so far the only thing going through his mind was 'get as far away as possible'.

* * *

><p>Stunned silence fell over the group for a few seconds as they processed what had just happened.<p>

Then all hell broke loose.

But in the midst of it all, Ali was still completely dazed, one wing pressed to her beak and the other lightly touching the cap on her head, her whole body shaking with emotion. She could still feel his beak on hers, the tremble of his wings as he held her tight and the sound of his soft, shaking voice still echoed in her mind.

She snapped.

"SHUT UP!"

The group fell silent once more, amazed at the big voice coming from the tiny bird.

"Thank you," Cosette said, smiling gratefully at the panting girl, who was glaring murderously at each of them, "Alistair, you're the fastest," the sparrow turned to the Brit, "follow them, and do not let them out of your sight. The moment something happens, you come straight back here. Nico's good at hiding, he can probably hold him off until we get there, but don't try to fight, it will not end well."

Alistair nodded, his face steely as he darted outside, taking off immediately.

"Everyone else, all we can do is wait for Alistair to get-Hello?"

The entire group turned to see, standing at the entrance, a toucan with a slightly worried smile.

"Is everything okay in here, I heard yelling."

Miyoko, who was next to Cosette froze, wide eyed as she instantly recognised the voice.

"I opt out of explaining this one," she cried, holding her wings up before dropping her head and covering her face. Cosette turned towards her, expression panicked.

"Please don't tell me that's-"

"Yup."

"Merde."

"And the really bad thing?" Miyoko turned to her, looking incredibly guilty, "when we spoke to them, in Tokyo, we may have quite possibly twisted the truth a tiny, tiny amount," a glare, "and lied to them about Vincent. They have no idea." She finished really quickly, her voice getting faster and higher as she finished the confession.

Ali closed her eyes, trying to block out the nightmare happening around her. She was finding it difficult to keep her emotions under wrap as she usually did, and all she wanted to do was either throw a tantrum and scream at the world, or just break down and cry. Tia seemed to decide it for her, because when she placed a comforting wing on her shoulder, the yellow bird broke, spinning around and burying her face in her best friends shoulder, silent tears streaming down her face. The group was silent, and Cosette noticed how the shiny bottle cap on the girl's head caught the toucan's eye, and he frowned.

"I might just have to join you there Ali," Cosette murmured, taking deep breaths and holding on to Marius' wing tightly, then turned to the Toucan, who was looking puzzled between Ali and Miyoko, who was avoiding eye contact. "Rafael, right?" she asked, and he nodded, turning to her. Cosette took a deep breath, "I'm not entirely sure 'ow to explain all this."

* * *

><p>Nico took a sharp turn, into a tiny alleyway barely wide enough for his wingspan. He was all of a sudden thankful for his tendency to wonder off and explore when he was stuck on a song, he probably knew the city better than most other birds by this point.<p>

His one advantage.

Save being able to fit down tiny spaces. That helped too.

He had only been flying for probably around ten minutes, but he was already exhausted, constantly trying to keep himself ahead of the murderous bird always close behind him. His early morning and long day's flight was really beginning to get to him, and he was doing all he could not to drop his speed.

He could see the silhouette of Vincent flying above the alley, only slightly behind him, and picked up his speed a little, bursting back out into the evening light, which was slowly getting dimmer every minute.

They were near the edge of the city now, close to the forest, where Nico was certainly not going to lead him. It was too crowded, too many birds. Other than the high possibility of others getting hurt, he wanted to keep this as low-key as possible. Get rid of Vincent, get back into his normal life without any repercussions of being the one that was being chased by a Eagle.

Then he saw his chance.

An open window on the second floor of an old abandoned schoolhouse. He didn't know what he would do once in there, but it was an opportunity to hide, perhaps rest his already exhausted wings and plan what to do next. He had been in there once before, there were enough holes in some of the walls that it would be easy enough to sneak out.

He took his chance.

* * *

><p>"So he's in the city?"<p>

He was home.

Rafael felt a lightness in his heart that he hadn't felt in six months, it almost overshadowed the bad news he had received alongside. His son was home. After all those months of waiting, worrying, praying, he had made it! Chased by an angry, homicidal eagle, but home.

Everyone nodded, weak smiles and grim looks scattered throughout the group.

"Yeah," Tony spoke up, having stayed silent since Nico had flown off, and Rafael did a double take when he looked at him. If it wasn't for the dark patch around his eye and the couple of feathers that stuck straight up on his head rather than flattened down, he could've sworn he was Nico, "the only problem is we don't know where."

"I do!"

Everyone turned at the thick British accent, the swallow it was attached to practically collapsing on the floor, though he was grinning wide through his heavy pants.

"On the edge of the city, Vincent has him trapped in an old abandoned building, we might want to move now though, I've seen one his henchmen, and he's up to something," he explained, eliciting several gasps from the troop of birds.

The general reaction was shock, with a mix of expectance, anger and a slight fear.

Ali, who had been fiddling nervously with Nico's bottle cap during the brief explanation, spun it around one last time before fixing it firmly on her head, her face adopting her usual cold glare, though determination and, though she would forever deny it; love shone clear in her eyes.

"Then can someone explain to me what we're standing around for?" she barked, making most of them jump. No one moved for a few seconds, they all simply stared wide eyed at the strong-minded canary, "Move!"

That spurred them into action fast, no one wanting to anger the small bird further. Alistair took off first, Ali, Cosette and Rafael close behind, the toucan still slightly confused as to the details of what was happening, but went along with it anyway. The others followed at a quick pace, keeping close.

It only took a minute or two to reach their destination, Nico and Vincent having taken the long way round, but before long they were standing in front of a old stone three storey building. It was obviously abandoned, most of the windows boarded up and almost overrun with weeds and plants growing up the walls.

And there, bent over in front of a wooden door of the building, pile of dried sticks and a packet of matches that they couldn't help but wonder where he had gotten them from, was one of Vincent's loyal henchmen, trying, and failing, to light a fire.

From up above, through the open window, the crash of wooden furniture being broken sounded and they all jumped, several taking a step forward, the only thing stopping them was the sudden flare and crackle from the ground, and a low chuckle.

"I don't think so," Rafael murmured, glaring hard at the large bird.

"We gotta work together to take him down," Hong-Xian, always the voice of wisdom, spoke up from the back, loud enough for the eagle to hear, the huge bird spinning around with wide eyes and a shocked expression, which quickly morphed into a dark grin as he gestured to the quickly growing fire.

Bad move.

Within seconds he was pinned down and pulled away from where he had begun to fan the flames with his wing. It was a struggle, since he was almost ten times the size of most of the birds there, and he kept trying to get away, but they eventually were able to get to a point where they could keep him still, Hong-Xian and Rafael, between them, pushing several large rocks onto his wings to help the smaller birds keep him down, and the twins putting their techniques, finally, to good use, sitting on his neck and pulling at the sensitive feathers around his ears.

But during all this, one bird had disappeared.

"Where are you going?" Tia hissed as the rest of the birds flew towards the suddenly terrified eagle.

"I gotta get in there, I've got to help him."

"Are you insane?"

"Tia, he's my little brother, I promised him I would take care of him, no matter what," Tony argued, pulling at his wing, which Tia had a tight grip on. She looked at him, completely torn between wanting to keep her own brother safe, and wanting to save the bird they had all grown so attached to. It only took a second, but the look on Tony's face, the determination, the love, and even the fear, it stopped her argument in its tracks. Someone had to help him.

She let go, watching with a feeling of melancholy and fear as he flew up to the second floor window, almost completely out of sight in the little light that was left, and through the small gap into the darkness. With one final look and a silent prayer, she threw herself into the battle with a war cry that echoed everyone's feelings that evening.

* * *

><p>Nico panted, throwing himself into the tight space between a box and the wall, trying to calm his frantic breathing. He could hear Vincent, pushing over chairs and tables, creeping closer to where he knew the already exhausted canary was.<p>

The tiny bird knew he wasn't getting out of this one, nearly half of the holes he knew could be used as escape routes had been closed off one way or another, either with falling debris or decay, and the others were out of reach, too obvious or in wood that was so badly rotten he wouldn't have made it two millimetres without the tunnel collapsing in on itself. The heavy door leading out the room had been shut and Vincent had partially shut the window on the way in. Not fully, but low enough that it would be a slight struggle for him to get out, not much, but enough for the eagle to notice him and grab him before he got out.

Needless to say, he was in a bit of a pinch.

With a jolt, the eagle grabbed the box he was hiding behind and practically tore it out, throwing it behind him. Nico however, had kept a tight grip on the box, and milliseconds after the box was thrown in the air he took off, darting as quickly as he could behind the teachers desk at the front of the room, the desk closest to the partially open window. The wooden box smashed as it hit the ground. Maybe, if he could just...

"Oh, hiding are we?" came the chilling voice of Vincent from the other side of the room, "don't think it'll be for long, maybe I've never told you, but I've always been good at hide and seek. Especially when I'm the seeker," he said, followed by a low chuckle that sent a shiver through Nico's body.

He saw a ball of string nearby, and immediately wondered if he could do anything with it. All he needed was a few moments of distraction, just a few seconds to get out. After that he didn't know what to do, but he was not going to die here, in an old abandoned Classroom, practically on his front doorstep, no one bird knowing where he was. He needed to see everyone, to see his friends, his family, Blu, Jewel, the kids, Eva and Rafael; the birds who had been his parents for nearly seven years, Pedro.

Just once.

He could hear voices outside, a clear battle-cry from what sounded like Tia, shouting, a cry, and the crackle of a fire.

He had to get out.

"Hmm, it seems your friends are here," the thoughtful voice of Vincent sounded, closer this time, and he tried to calm his heavy breathing and wildly beating heart, terrified it would be heard, "perfect, once I kill you, they will be the next to go, or maybe I'll let you live," his breath stopped as he realised what the eagle had planned, "just long enough for you to watch them die. Slowly. Painfully. Especially the little French girl, I've seen how much you care for her."

Cosette.

"And the little canary."

Ali. This time it was his heart that stopped as he tried to reign in his fury and anger.

None of them were going to die, not if he had anything to do with-

"Getting on okay in here?"

Nico almost jumped out of his feathers as another presence appeared next to his, and the low, almost silent voice of his brother sounded in his ear.

"Tony!" He hissed, wing over his heart as he tried to catch his breath, "what are you doing here?"

There was the crunching sound of a wooden chair hitting the wall and breaking into pieces, clattering to the floor, making both brothers wince.

"So you have one of your little friends in here with you," Vincent observed, obviously having seen Tony dart through the window and behind the desk, "not that it will help you."

"For one thing, this place is about to go up in flames," Tony whispered, grabbing his brother's left wing with his own, "and do you remember what I told you back in Hawaii? You're my little brother, I lost you once, I'm not about to do it again, I'm going to protect you, no matter what, I'm going to stand by you, whatever the cost."

"You could die," Nico protested, looking terrified, not for himself, but for Tony, for everyone he loved, he couldn't let them...the fire.

That was it! All he had to do was somehow keep Vincent in here until the flames reached this floor. But how was he going to do that?

"Then so be it," Tony's determined voice broke through his thoughts and he was suddenly overwhelmed by how much this bird cared for him, how far he was willing to go to keep him safe. And he knew he would do the same. For Tony, for Ali, Pedro, Rafael, for all of them. He would willingly put his life on the line to keep them safe. Do whatever it takes to make sure they stayed alive, out of harm's way, happy.

He once again noticed the ball of string lying close by. And got an idea.

The fire was getting closer now, he could smell the smoke and hear the crackle of the flames eating at the wooden structure of the building and the furniture inside it, getting closer and closer. All they had to do was hold him down for long enough to get out, long enough for the flames to reach the room. Chances are the smoke would get him long before the flames did.

"Alright," he accepted, "I've got a plan."

Seconds later the string was unravelled, and each brother had a hold of each end with their feet. It seemed just long enough to hopefully tangle the large bird up enough for them to get away, but it wasn't so long that it would get tangled in other things on the way. Hopefully.

Nico took a few tentative steps around the corner of the desk, trying to figure out where Vincent was and whether they could get to him and start their plan before he could do anything about it.

There was no one there.

He snapped around when he heard Tony scream, and he eyes widened when he saw Vincent, smirking madly, one foot holding Tony with a tight grip, the canary's face scrunched up in pain, obviously trying to hold in a cry of pain.

"I could kill him you know," Vincent said, grinning wickedly, "just one little squeeze." He tightened his grip ever so slightly, just to prove his point, and Tony let out a whimper. Nico couldn't help but notice how he was still tightly holding his end of the string.

He did it so fast Vincent didn't see it coming, couldn't do anything about it, he was actually shocked the little bird actually fought back. Picking up the string around the middle, Nico flew around his legs several times, pulling the string tight with remarkable strength for such a little bird, causing him to let go of Tony, who hit the floor with a hiss of pain, and begin to lose his balance. Nico let go of the string almost immediately, flying down to help his brother up, pulling him out of the way of the falling, flailing eagle.

They backed away, Tony gripping his wing, which had been injured when the large bird had grabbed him, Vincent, trying to push himself up, between them and the window.

But there wasn't time to get his brother around to the open window, Vincent was beginning to regain his balance, pulling at the string, which obviously wasn't thick enough, snapping easily when faced with the sheer strength of the huge bird. He looked up, seeing the pair of canaries staring up at him with wide, fearful yet defiant eyes.

But he had barely taken two steps forward when a sound like a hundred fireworks going off at once hit, and the floor rocked, walls cracking, and everything collapsed, falling in on itself.

The last thing Nico remembered doing was grabbing his brother, Tony doing the same, both holding onto the other like it was their only lifeline, and then there was only blackness.

* * *

><p>Rafael opened his eyes slowly, feeling the sharp stabbing pain from where he had hit the ground. All he remembered was a bright light, a sound like an explosion, and then they were all thrown off their feet. Absolute chaos surrounded him, dust and ashes falling slowly from the sky, and he could hear the crackle of flames.<p>

"No!" Ali's cry broke through his senses as he began to lift his head from the ground, and he looked over to the girl, who was struggling against Tia and Cosette, both with tears streaming down their faces as the canary tried to get to the wreckage, which was still settling, little fires still flickering in spots, "let me go damnit!" she shouted. Eventually she slumped, Tia pulling her in to a crushing hug, both girls crying for their loved ones.

He couldn't believe it, not even when looking at what was left of the old school building. There was nothing, the entire structure had collapsed. He had come so close, so, so close to being able to see his son again, to being able to hold him ad protect him like any father should be able to. He hadn't even seen him, missed by mere seconds. And now...

How could anyone have survived that?

Silence fell as the dust began to settle, everyone looking on with wide and tearful eyes. Alistair and Marius stood close together, both watching Cosette get pulled into Tia and Ali's hug, all three of them crying. Miyoko pulled her sisters close, tears threatening to fall as she stared at the wreckage. The youngest of the girls had her wing wrapped around Hong-Xian's leg in an attempt at hugging the tall bird and the twins were gripping each other tightly, expressions identical as they looked on in horror.

"H-hey!"

Thirteen heads snapped up at the sound of Tony's weak and slightly panicked voice broke through the silence. Everyone's eyes raked the rubble, searching for any sign of life. And then, seconds later, several of the rocks began to move, as if being pushed up from below.

Ali and Tia didn't need a second invitation and they shot towards the movement, Cosette and the others close behind, immediately digging away. It wasn't long before Tony was being pulled out and straight into Tia's comforting wings. He was crying hard, expressed panicked as he tried to turn around, tried to make sure his brother was okay. The look of sheer desperation on his face was enough to stop Rafael dead in his tracks as a feeling of dread settled in his stomach.

"Wait!" Cosette's cry caused him to look back. And what he saw there he knew would haunt him forever, whatever the outcome of that night.

Nico, looking so, so small, so broken, was half out of the hole they had dug, unconscious. Ali was cradling his head, one wing hovering over his beak, checking for breathing. There was a moment as her face crumpled, and she bent over, leaning her forehead against his, sobbing hard, muttering something, one word, over and over as Cosette reached into the hole. After a few moments Cosette retracted her wing, and the canary was lifted out fully by Marius, Alistair and the twins supporting his head and legs. That was when he saw what had stopped them. His leg had been broken, the bone completely snapped in two, one half pushed through the skin.

But then he saw what had got Ali so upset, and his heart stopped.

He wasn't breathing.

* * *

><p>"Please, please, please, please," Ali repeated over and over, her whole body shaking as she bent over, resting her forehead against Nico's, eyes clamped tight as Cosette tried to help him out of the rubble. She knew he wasn't breathing, she could feel how still his body was, but she wasn't ready to believe it just yet.<p>

He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. There was no way, he was too lively, too energetic, he still had his whole life to go.

They lifted him out fully and she shifted so she was holding him, head in the crook of her wing, unable to take her eyes off his peaceful face. Not now. Why now? They had just begun, she was finally beginning to accept her feelings towards him, and she didn't even get the chance to tell him. He had to wake up, he couldn't die before she told him. Slowly she lifted the bottle cap that was still on her head and gently placed it on his.

She lifted her head, trying to find some glimmer of hope in the faces of the others. But there was none, Cosette was close by, head bowed, tears dripping off the end of her beak. Marius had his wings wrapped around her tightly.

Tony was fighting against Tia, who was trying to get him to sit down so she could fix his obviously dislocated wing, but all he wanted to do was get to Nico, to his little brother, someone he had already lost once in his life. It only took a few seconds for exhaustion to take over, and he gave up, tears streaming as he sobbed silently into Tia's feathers, the tanager holding him tightly, whispering soothing words into his ear.

And Rafael. She almost couldn't look at him, his expression was so heartbreaking. Disbelief, acceptance, and despair all rolled into one, and he was on the edge of tears, on the edge of completely breaking down, but trying to stay strong. The pain of losing a child, something no parent should ever have to do, was clear in his eyes, eyes that were unable to look away from the tiny, broken body of his son.

She looked back down, trying to stem her own sobs, but failing miserably.

"Please Nico," she whispered, "you have to wake up, you just have to," she gently stroked the side of his face, tears dropping and sliding down his beak. He looked so peaceful, like he was merely sleeping. "Please, please," she begged, leaning her forehead against his again, tightening her grip around his body, "you can't die on me you bastard, wake up," she demanded, praying to whatever higher power was up there that he would for once listen to her.

"Ali," Tia's sympathetic voice drifted over from where she was comforting Tony. The canary simply ignored her, rocking back and forth ever so slightly, openly sobbing now.

"Please Nico, you have to wake up, you- I- I love you."

Her wing moved over his chest, and her head snapped up, tears stopping almost instantly.

She had barely felt it, and she had to press her wing back over his heart to make sure she wasn't just imagining things, wasn't just making things up. But there it was again, the slight flutter of a heartbeat, only just there, but it couldn't be mistaken, the tiny sign that showed that the canary was still clinging onto life. Ali's breath caught in her throat.

"Cosette," she cried, not taking her eyes of his face, searching for any sign of waking, anything at all. His eyelids fluttered a tiny amount and Ali couldn't help but smile. Cosette bumped her head a little with her own as she too bent over him, seeing for herself. She pressed her wing against his neck, and grinned, looking up, Ali watching with a grin to match.

Cosette's face fell a little as she looked over at his leg, "I need to sort that out," she murmured, Ali following her gaze. And then wished she hadn't.

She immediately looked back to Nico's face, seeing with some amount of happiness that he was beginning to wake up, twitching, turning his head towards her. This was only overshadowed by the knowledge that he was about to be in a lot of pain. Cosette had to deal with his leg, and she had to do it at once, they had already left it long enough. Ali knew that it was going to hurt, and that she couldn't do anything about it.

He gave a tiny whimper of pain, and she tightened her hold, smoothing down some of his more mussed up feathers. She could sense Cosette, with the help of Marius, begin to fuss over his leg.

"Okay, this is going to hurt a lot," the French bird murmured, leaning over and gripping his wing, knowing he could hear her, somehow, "Ali, I need you to keep a good grip on him so he doesn't move," she told the scared girl, and she nodded, shifting slightly to get a better hold, giggling a little as Cosette murmured "idiot," as she sat back.

"Damn, what happened here?" An unfamiliar voice made her head snap up, and she shrank back, leaning over Nico protectively.

"Pedro," Rafael muttered, spinning around. Ali tried to see around him, knowing the name sounded familiar, something Nico had mentioned, more than once, but unable to completely place it, more important things pressing on her mind.

"Rafael? What happened?"

Ali kept one ear on the conversation, but focused everything else she had onto the situation at hand. At the back of her mind she registered Tony once again fighting against Tia, who was trying to get him to sit down so she and Miyoko could take care of his wing.

Cosette lightly brushed her wing over the injury, but apparently that was more than enough and Nico let out a sharp cry of pain, eyes snapping open, his entire body tensing up.

"Hmm, Ali?" the canary looked over, keeping her eyes trained on the sparrow and not the wound, "did you say you made these?" she gestured to the metal covering his foot, and Ali nodded fearfully, "I need you over here," Cosette told her grimly, "I can't get it off."

"But I-" she looked down at Nico, who had buried his face in her chest, one of his wings gripping hers tightly.

"I'm sorry, but it needs to come off, and I can't do it."

Ali, not wanting to leave his side, not when he was in so much pain, looked up at Rafael, who was talking to rather confused cardinal, hoping for some guidance. Then it hit her, the bird he was talking to, Pedro; she remembered Nico mentioning him, he was his best friend.

"Rafael!" she called, and the toucan looked down, as did the cardinal, whose eyes widened to impossible sizes, "I need someone down here to hold him!" she said, nodding at the smaller bird next to him, trying to stay strong and not cry. She would not cry, damnit. She watched the larger bird lean down and murmur something in Pedro's ear, and even from her position some distance away she heard him.

"I think there's a canary down there who needs you."

The Cardinal was still in shock, and he barely moved, only nodding.

Ali growled, glaring at him with annoyance. "Now!" she snapped, and he jumped into action, darting down with a speed she wasn't expecting.

"N-Nico," he murmured dropping down next to him, and Ali nearly smiled, the only thing stopping her was the way Nico suddenly tensed up and drew closer to her.

"Can you hold him?" she asked quietly.

"Ali, now!" Cosette told her, an air of urgency around her.

Pedro nodded, leaning forward and slipping one wing under in head like she had, but the canary seemed reluctant to let Ali leave.

"I'm only going over there, I'll be right back, but your friend's here okay?" she murmured, easing her wing out of his tight grip, "you're acting like such a kid," she laughed, trying not to notice how much her wings were shaking.

"I think under the circumstances," he said weakly, and Ali's resolve to leave weakened slightly, but she stayed strong. She had to be, looking at his leg.

"I'll allow it," she finished, going to his foot and immediately began work on taking her contraption off, amazed at how well it had stayed together.

* * *

><p>Pedro couldn't believe this.<p>

Nico was back in Rio, he was finally home. He knew he would make it. All those other birds who didn't believe, who scoffed behind their backs, this would show them. But first things first.

"P-Pedro?" the weak, tired voice of his best friend asked, and he looked down to see the canary looking at him, a pained smile on his beak.

"Hey buddy," Pedro whispered, tears springing to his eyes, "you're okay now, you're home," he grinned, taking the smaller's wing and holding it tight. Just in time too, as he let out another sharp cry, back arching in pain, and he tried to curl up, but the tight grip both Marius and Cosette had on him prevented him from doing so. Pedro held him tighter, heart breaking as the canary turned his head, face scrunched up in agony and breathing hard, leaning fully against the cardinal.

"It's okay," he muttered, not knowing exactly how to deal with the situation, but doing the best he could, "you're gonna be okay." He tried to keep his eyes on his best friend, and not the mess of blood and bone that was his leg. Ali had just finished unclipping whatever it was on his foot, throwing it over her shoulder and scrambling back to Nico's side.

"Alright darling," Cosette said from further down, leaning over his legs and placing a slightly bloodied wing over Nico and Pedro's clasped ones, "this is going to be painful, and ideally you would be unconscious for this, but we've got to do this now." Nico nodded, burying his face deeper into Pedro's feathers, breathing quick and shallow as he prepared himself for what he knew was coming.

"You'll be okay," Pedro muttered, looking up at the girl who had appeared on Nico's other side. She leant over, leaning her head on his and murmuring soothing words, her wing joining Pedro's over Nico's. She looked up for a moment, their eyes connecting and she nodded, smiling a little. He didn't know this girl, he couldn't remember Nico ever mentioning her when they talked in Tokyo, but he could see in her eyes that she loved him, and could see by the way Nico was almost drawn to her that he felt the same way.

"Okay you two," Cosette said, her face steeled as she prepared, "hold tight."

In one fluid motion, she pushed across and down, and the bone slipped back into its proper position.

Ali and Pedro held on firmly as the canary writhed in agony, beak open in a silent scream, his body curling up with Cosette doing everything to keep his legs straight, pressing against his friends body. Ali couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face as she held onto him, not being able to handle seeing him in such pain but being unable to do anything about it.

But the next thing they knew, he fell limp, eyes sliding closed.

"Nico!" Ali cried, suddenly frantic. Cosette, ever the calm one, leaned forward, checking for a pulse.

"He passed out," she announced, and it seemed the entire group gave a sigh of relief, Tony practically falling on his sister, shoulders slumped in exhaustion and a small smile on his face.

"Couldn't have done that earlier could you?" Ali murmured, pressing a small kiss to his forehead.

"He's always loved to be difficult," Pedro chuckled as the pair let him down to the ground gently, "we should get him to the sanctuary though."

With a lot of fussing from the girls, particularly Tia and Cosette, and even more from Tony and Pedro, they managed to get him to the sanctuary without him waking up, where, thankfully, Tulio was working late. The bird doctor quickly went to work, putting the canary under a sedative to prevent waking and taking him into the back room while several of the others tended to the smaller injuries the others birds had received from the blast.

Rafael watched the commotion with a small smile, keeping one eye on Pedro, who was looking more alive than he had in months. He was uninjured, and therefore more or less had free reign, and was currently chatting with Tia and Miyoko, both listening intently to something he was saying.

Half an hour later Tulio emerged, ever so gently carrying the one they were all so worried about, and laid him carefully down in a soft nest made from strips of cotton. His leg was bulked up with a cast, a fact Rafael knew he was not going to be happy about when he woke up.

The group crowded around him eagerly, torn between happiness and worry. But the smile on Tulio's face as he stood back said it all, and they cheered, hugging and whooping with joy.

Amongst it all though, was a father who had not yet seen his son properly. Rafael landed behind the nest, looking down his beak at the peacefully sleeping canary. He reached down, gently stroking the feathers on his head, smiling softly, seeing the tiny, tiny little bird he had picked up off the street all those years ago. The little one he had taught to walk, talk, dance and sing, who he had watched grow up into an amazing bird who had touched the hearts of so many. Who had been on a long, long journey, with so many dangers, and yet here he was, a little worse for wear, but alive, healing, and above all, home.

And that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Screw it all. I originally thought this was going to take ages to write, I had so many ideas, some of which I may still type out and put in as alternate endings. But in the end I went with this, it had enough drama, angst and hopefully excitement/danger :P It probably helped I've had loads of free days recently, and ended up going home sick from work the other day, so that was another afternoon to write. **

**Right, a few notes on the chapter: I hope there was enough romance stuff, there will be even more in the next chapter, so stay tuned :) I debated with myself all day yesterday whether or not to put Pedro in, and I'm sort of glad I did, it works out better than my other idea. Sorry it's a bit choppy, there were so many of them, and I wanted to put the POV of them all in, but obviously that was asking for too much and would be way too confusing for everyone, so I picked out a few. Also, I'm no doctor, please keep that in mind.**

**Next chapter will probably be the last, and will hopefully tie up all the loose ends. I'm thinking about possibly a sequel, but with Uni starting very soon, and two other stories I've been seriously neglecting for far too long, it may be some time. Maybe a few oneshots.**

**Hope you all enjoyed :) Reviews are both welcomed and encouraged, good or bad. Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far, it means so much to me :) **

**See you in the next, and last chapter :)**

**Translations:**

**Je vous ai manqué: **I've missed you.

**Je vous ai manqués trop mon chérie: **I've missed you too my darling.

**Content de voir que mes leçons ne vont pas à l'gaspilleur: **Glad to see my lessons have not gone to waste.

**Bien sûr que non. Je ne pratiquent encore: **Of course not. I still practice.

**Can you work out what Ali was thinking? ;)**


	16. The Healing

'_Please Nico, you have to wake up, you just have to.'_

What happened? The last thing he could remember clearly was pulling Tony away from a unbalanced Vincent who was about to collapse on top of them both. After that all he could recall was a blur of pain.

'_You're gonna be okay.'_

He felt numb, completely numb, like someone had just cut off the connection from his brain to the rest of his body. What happened after he had managed to trip Vincent?

'_Please.'_

A dull throbbing in his leg began to make itself known, and a faint aching in the rest of his body indicated he was beginning to wake up. He sort of didn't want to. Agony erupted in his leg, and he wished he could go back to the numbness he had felt before. He felt himself wince a little, making the pain spread. He stopped moving, though not exactly a hard task, and the pain reduced a little.

Stay still, that seemed to be the key here.

"Nico?"

A voice, one that sounded familiar, like from a distant memory, but one he couldn't quite place. Then again, everything felt like a distant memory at this point. How long had he been unconscious? And who was speaking to him?

"Hey there sweetheart, you're okay now," the voice said. It was female, that much he could tell, but for some reason he couldn't put a face to it. "I think you need more painkillers." Who was it?

'_It's okay now, you're gonna be alright, just a small amount of pain and then it'll all be over.'_

And where were the other voices from? They weren't from outside, he was fairly sure they were inside his head, but he couldn't remember where they were from. It was all a huge blur, he distantly remembered smoke, the crackle of a fire, wood cracking and breaking, and then... And then what?

'_Nico? N-Nico can you h-hear me? Please, answer me!'_

Fireworks?

No, not fireworks. But it sounded a lot like them, and then the floor had disappeared from beneath them. Everything collapsed around them, and he remembered Tony's wings around him, holding tight. Something had blown up downstairs, the fire must have hit something explosive, destroying the whole ground floor, the rest of the building, already structurally unsound, collapsing on top of it. What happened after that though...?

'_Hey Buddy, you're okay now, you're home.'_

Pedro was there?

Yes, he could see it now, bits and pieces, snippets of memory were slowly, agonisingly slowly, starting to come back. He could remember the fuzzy outline of his best friend, smiling wide, and Ali. He knew she was there too, he remembered her talking to him, her wings tight around him, holding him close.

'_I love you.'_

* * *

><p>"How's he doing?"<p>

Tia sighed, stroking the soft feathers on the canary's head gently. It had been three days now, and while she had seen him in a worse state than this, she had never seen anyone in so much pain before. It was terrible to think about, so much so that she couldn't sleep. She was fairly sure it was the same for everyone else. No one had slept on that first night after they had brought him in, they all stayed up, talking in small groups, or just sitting and thinking on their own.

Tia had sat in silence with Ali, just letting the girl rest on her shoulder for a while, the canary just thinking, keeping her eyes trained on Nico. But that morning she had disappeared, no one knew what happened to her, just vanished. Tia was calm at first, knowing the canary was a bit of a loner, and decided to give her some space. But when she didn't come back, the tanager began to inwardly panic.

"I think he's starting to come back to us," she said, turning her head to Pedro, who was looking worried, but a small smile appeared on his face after she gave her verdict. "I almost don't want him to though," the smile fell and he looked at her, confused. "He's already been through so much, and his leg's going to hurt for quite some time, I just want him to stay unconscious until it's over."

She gave a sad smile, rubbing at one eye, turning back to the sleeping bird.

"He'll make it through," Pedro said, and she looked up at the wing on her shoulder, unshed tears in her eyes.

"I know that," she said, leaning against the cardinal standing next to her, not seeing the slightly shocked expression on his face, "but between this, Ali going missing, and Tony acting like a mother Hen, I'm starting to wonder if _I'm_ going to make it through," she gave a tired chuckle, yawning widely.

"When was the last time you slept?" Pedro asked, looking down at her worriedly.

"Um," the girl thought for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had slept, "I had a nap around four?"

"Properly?"

"Last night," she admitted, looking away guiltily, "I got up at eight."

"And it's now half three in the morning, I'm not gonna try and do the maths but that is a really long time."

Tia groaned, dropping her head into her wings, "I know, but every time I shut my eyes all I can see is that night."

"I know," Pedro said, "I can't sleep either."

"It's not the same," Tia suddenly stood and took a few steps away, face in her wings "you didn't see it before, we thought he was dead!" she cried, spinning and leaning against the wall, staring at the ground, "all I can see is Ali's face as she held him, Tony desperately trying to get to him, despite his own injuries, and I just...I just..."

Suddenly she felt a pair of wings surround her and her face pressed into a shoulder, and she broke, crying into his soft feathers.

"None of that matters now," he whispered, "it's over."

"I know," Tia murmured, "but you can see it in everyone, we're all still a little on edge, he's already had an infection that nearly killed him once, and it could easily happen again."

"Yeah, but he pulled through that one didn't he, and the doc's said he's clear to go," he pulled her away, smiling, "I bet by tomorrow morning he'll be up and we'll all be wishing he'd shut his beak." Tia gave a watery chuckle, wiping at her eyes.

"I guess," she said, looking over at the still peaceful canary, "Sorry, I get a little emotional when I'm tired," she apologized, stepping away and fanning herself a little, taking deep breaths.

"Could be worse," Pedro laughed, "you could turn into him."

"Heard that."

Two heads snapped towards the canary, who still had his eyes closed, still looking like he was sleeping. In fact, it didn't look like he had moved at all. But both were sure they had heard his voice. Quiet, and weak, but clearly there. They darted to the bed, one on either side, leaning over him.

"Hey, you awake darling?"

"Darling?" Pedro couldn't help but ask. Tia looked up at him, eyes wide and innocent.

"I call everyone names like that," she smirked, "sweetie," she held in a laugh at his expression and looked back down, "can you open your eyes for me chica? You have to see the look on his face," she said, grinning wide as the other bird spluttered, glaring.

"Too...much effort," Nico murmured, his beak barely moving.

"You've been unconscious for like, three days, how have you not got any energy?" Pedro had to ask, slightly confused.

"You try climbing up from the bottom of a deep dark pit and we'll see how much energy you have," Tia said, looking at him with a dry look, sighing when he looked even more confused, "it's not like just getting up in the morning, it takes a lot of effort to pull yourself from unconsciousness like this." Nico just 'mmm'ed in agreement.

"Alright then," Pedro just nodded, "anyway, how're you feeling buddy?"

Nico involuntarily twitched his foot, the injured one, and jolted, both birds on either side grabbing his shoulders to keep him from moving too much. His face contorted in pain, his whole body tensing up. There were a few moments where the canary tried to calm his breathing, before the two birds felt it was okay to let go, Tia immediately moving to stroke the feathers on his head soothingly.

"Like crap," he muttered after a while, groaning a little.

"Fair enough," Pedro chuckled weakly, standing back with a small smile, though anyone could see the fear and worry in his eyes.

"You go back to sleep cariño," Tia said softly, "We'll see how you're feeling in the morning, 'kay?" Nico gave a barely perceptible nod, breathing slowing as he drifted off to sleep.

"You need to sleep too," Pedro whispered in Tia's ear, and she jumped a little, looking up at him.

"Just a little longer," she murmured, yawning.

"No, now," the cardinal laughed, "come on, even Tony's sleeping."

"Tony," Tia started in a 'I'll-have-you-know' voice, "fell unconscious from sheer exhaustion yesterday morning, he hadn't slept since we left from Sao Paulo."

"Yeah, and you look like you're about to do the same," He said, leading her away from Nico and towards the groups of nests they had made up nearby, "sleep, and I'll wake you the moment something happens, okay?"

Tia sighed, climbing into her bed and settling down, pouting a little, "fine, but you better," she yawned, closing her eyes, and finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Nico didn't think pain and exhaustion like this actually existed. But then, he'd never had a bone broken quite like this, and then tried to walk on it barely a week later. But they insisted he try, and they were even getting a pair of crutches made up if he found it too difficult. Tia and Cosette were quite insistent, saying something about how he'd been stuck in bed for far too long and needed the exercise.<p>

"Vous faites avec brio," Cosette murmured, walking along with him, Tony on his other side, looking rather confused at what she was saying.

"J'ai pris deux measures," Nico bit out, taking a deep breath and taking another slow, limping step towards Rafael, who was smiling wide with open wings. He sighed, scowling a little. He felt like a kid just learning how to walk.

"Eh bien, deux étapes c'est mieux que rien," Cosette smirked, shrugging, her wings hovering over one of his wings and his shoulders, not touching, but ready to catch him if he fell, "estropié," she added, and he glared hard at her, which just intensified her smirk, despite the fact she wasn't even looking at his face, just his feet. "Actually, I'm amazed you even know what that means, I thought I only taught you the basics," she added, steadying him a little when he wobbled.

"Yeah, well, Hong-Xian had several Language books lying around and I found a English to French one," Nico explained, "and since I had the flu and couldn't really do much, I thought I'd learn a bit more."

"Wow, dedicated," Cosette muttered, smiling.

"J'ai un peu envie de vous impressionner si jamais je vous ai vu à nouveau," Nico muttered, looking away. Cosette smiled, pressing a small kiss to the side of his head.

"Vraiment? Eh bien mon cherie, vous l'avez fait," she whispered, despite the fact that everyone was looking at them blankly, not understanding a word that was being exchanged. Nico couldn't help the proud smile that found its way to his beak as he took another limping, wobbly step forward. Ten minutes later he collapsed into Rafael, who wrapped his wings around the small bird tightly. Nico panted into his soft feathers, wondering why in the hell he was so exhausted after only taking ten steps.

"Well done," the toucan told him, hugging the canary with a smile, just happy that he was even able to still do so, "you're getting there."

"Thanks," Nico grinned, leaning against him, "I'm thinking more painkillers are in order though, and perhaps a short nap?"

Rafael laughed, scooping his son up in his wings and gently deposited him in his nest. In the background Cosette was trying to shoo Tony and some of the others that had flown over for moral support away from the two birds so they could have time alone.

"Thanks," Nico said, getting comfy and sighing in contentment as the ache in his leg began to dull and he could settle down properly.

"How are you feeling?" Rafael asked, sitting next to the small nest.

"I think I've lost count of how many times I've been asked that this week," the canary chuckled, "I'm fine," he answered, taking in Rafael's raised eyebrow, "Still a bit achy and my leg hurts like hell, especially if I accidently move my foot, but honestly, I don't care. Tulio was saying it's a miracle I can still move it, so no complaints there."

"Well, so long as you're okay with it."

"Hey, I survived an explosion, if all I got out of it is a slight limit on how much I can use my foot, then I'm counting myself extremely lucky," he grinned, though this quickly disappeared at the look on the older birds face, "enough about me, what about you?"

"What about me?" The toucan asked, tilting his head.

"Well, everyone's been asking me how _I'm_ feeling, how _I'm_ doing. Honestly I'm getting a bit sick of it, I want to know about you."

Rafael smiled, laughing a little, "better now you're back," he said, "I've been scared as hell the past few months, and when we found you after the explosion, and thought you were...were..." he trailed off, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck, "well, I almost lost it there and then. The thought of losing you was too much to bear. Despite everything, you are my son, and no parent should have to bury their child."

Nico winced slightly at that, "well, there's certainly no getting rid of me for a while," he said, fiddling with his bottle cap, something that Rafael found out long ago was something he tended to do when he was nervous, "though I may have to stop pissing birds off," he finished thoughtfully, making Rafael laugh out loud. "But I think I got some pretty impressive battle scars out of the experience," the canary chuckled, rubbing his wing, evidence of the cut sill clear along the length of it.

"This is true," Rafael replied, grinning, "now, I think it's time you caught me up on everything, I've got the general idea of what happened after Tokyo, but it's all a bit mixed up."

Nico laughed and went on to spend the next hour telling the rest of the story, eventually finding he was struggling to keep his eyes open, yawning every so often.

"Stay," Nico suddenly said as Rafael was getting ready to leave. The older bird looked back, seeing the canary avoiding eye contact, chewing at the lower half of his beak. "Can you, um, stay here tonight?"

Rafael smiled, walking over and settling down next to the nest. "Of course I can," he said, lying down curled around the nest, one wing draped over it. Nico smiled gratefully, wiggling around a bit until he was comfortable.

He needed some sort of comfort that night, he'd had a lot on his mind recently, and it was beginning to get to him. He'd only woken up three days previously, and in between all the fussing and fretting, the treatments and medicines against infection, and the constant ache in his leg, anyone could tell he was beginning to get a little stressed out.

But the real thing that was bothering him?

Ali.

She had come back, not long after he had first begun to wake up, but only for short periods of time. Tia had forced her to check in at least once a day, and he was usually asleep whenever she did come back. And when he was awake, she actively avoided talking, or even looking at him.

He could guess why, but he had to be sure.

He needed to talk to her.

If only he could fly.

Maybe tomorrow he could try and convince someone to give him a lift to wherever she had flown off to.

* * *

><p>"Oh come on, please."<p>

"No," Rafael said, frowning down his beak at the begging canary, "you can't even fly."

"Actually," Nico started, crossing his wings across his chest tightly and scowling deeply, "I can fly, and quite well considering, it's the landing that's a bit iffy."

"A bit iffy?" Pedro said from his seat nearby, "dude, you went face-first into the floor when you tried to land this morning."

Nico glared at his best friend, who shrank back a little, but still grinned. "Thank you Pedro," he bit out, forcing a smile. The cardinal just grinned even wider, chuckling a little. "Come on," he turned back to the toucan, who was giving him a dry look, "I have crutches now, I can sort of walk, just give me a lift to wherever she is, no flying required on my part."

Rafael sighed, shoulders dropped as he dragged a wing down his face and sighed, closing his eyes so his resolve wouldn't be destroyed by the pleading look on his son's face. "I'm sorry Nico, but you have to stay here until you've completely recovered, doctors orders."

Nico sighed heavily, his whole body drooping in defeat. "Fine, but if you see Ali, tell her I need to talk to her," he said, hopping over to sit with Pedro, sitting and leaning heavily on the cardinal, back against his side. "This sucks," he muttered bitterly, glaring daggers at the cast surrounding his leg.

"I know it does," Pedro replied, watching Rafael sigh and shake his head, flying to the window and taking off into the trees, "you know I would take you if I could, but, well..."

"I know, you couldn't really carry me," Nico shrugged, "there's got to be someone willing to fly me there."

"What, and risk the wrath of Rafael? He'd be furious if he finds out," the read-headed bird said, looking down at the top of Nico's head, "and Eva."

Nico shuddered a little. He'd rarely been on the receiving end of Eva's fury, but in the two times that he had, once for sneaking out at night when he was much younger, the other two days ago when she had yelled at him for scaring them all (and then promptly broke down in tears and hugged him so tight he almost suffocated), he had been terrified.

But he had to see her.

"She can't avoid you forever," Pedro pointed out, as if reading his mind.

"I know," Nico sighed, "but it seems like she's giving it her best shot."

"She'll come around, trust me," the cardinal grinned, nudging the smaller slightly with his wing. Nico smiled in return, tilting his head upwards. Cosette and Marius had turned him down, as had Alistair, if only because of the glare and obvious shake of the head he was getting from Cosette at the time of asking. Otherwise Nico was sure he would have said yes. The twins were off somewhere probably causing havoc. They had gotten pretty close with the kids recently, especially the toucans. Not particularly surprising, but Nico dreaded the thought of them learning any more chaos-wreaking techniques.

Everyone else was either too small or not around to ask.

But two hours later, around early evening, the sun beginning to set, Nico saw his chance.

"Hey, Hong-Xian, could you do me a huge favour?" He asked the tall bird, expression ever hopeful.

"What is it little one?"

"I need a lift somewhere," the canary started, "I know I technically not allowed out, but I need to see Ali, it's driving me insane."

Hong-Xian looked down at him, expression completely unreadable.

"Could you please take me?" Nico pleaded.

"I don't know if I should disobey order from Doctor," the Chinese bird said, examining the smaller's expression, looking deep into his brown eyes, "do you love this girl?"

"What?" Nico asked, slightly taken aback by the question. Well, yes, he did, this much he had realised, but he wasn't expecting such a direct question. "Yes, I do. And I need to tell her, but she's been avoiding me. I need to see her before I go crazy."

"Alright, I take you."

"Well, it was worth a sh- What?" Nico stared up at him, fully expecting his request to be shot down once again, and it took a moment for the words to really sink in. "Really?"

"Of course, when you really love someone, sometimes you must go against all odds to tell them," Hong-Xian said, smiling down at him, "I know the feeling well, do you know where she is?"

Nico grinned wide, wishing he could hug the taller bird. "No I don't, but I can find out, just give me a moment. Thank you so, so much," he gushed, turning and hopping towards Tia, who was chatting at a hundred miles an hour with Miyoko. The pair had gotten rather close since meeting, finding they had a lot in common.

"Tia! Where is she?" Nico asked upon reaching them.

"I'm guessing you probably mean Ali?" Nico nodded enthusiastically, making the tanager laugh slightly, "she's taken to sitting on that rocky bit at the end of Ipanema beach, you know, when it's quiet, if not, the statue."

"Thanks!" Nico called, already backing away and hopping back to the crane, "can you cover for me if anyone asks? I'll take full responsibility if they find out, but Ralfy'll be furious."

Tia rolled her eyes and Miyoko chuckled, "Will do," the tanager replied, "but I am not taking any blame for this one, it was all you."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

And with that, Nico clambered onto the crane's back, and they were off, checking the statue first, as it was closest. When there was no sign of a little yellow canary, they headed for the beach. It was one of those rare occasions when it was almost completely deserted. The brief shower earlier had driven everyone inside, but even now the sun had come back out for the evening, the humans had not dared come back out, opting instead to head for the many restaurants and clubs the city had to offer.

Spotting a tiny canary against the vast rocks was a difficult task, but eventually Hong-Xian spotted her. They landed not too far away, Nico carefully climbing down, being sure not to put any weight on his bad leg.

"Good luck my friend," Hong-Xian whispered, "I will be over on the other side when you need to go home."

"Thanks," Nico said under his breath, not taking his eyes of the small shape of Ali sitting on the edge of the rocks, just staring into the distance. He heard Hong-Xian take off and fly a fair distance away, close enough so it wouldn't be a struggle for Nico to get to him, but far enough away that he was out of hearing range, giving the pair their privacy.

Surprisingly quietly, Nico hopped towards the girl, shocked that she didn't hear him. The crutches weren't completely quiet against the stone.

"Ali," he said softly when he was standing behind her. The girl jumped, standing and spinning around so quickly she got dizzy, Nico having to shoot out a wing to steady her, ignoring the crutch that fell to ground with a clatter.

"Nico! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be up!" she cried, staring wide eyed at the canary, who just smiled in return.

"I could ask you the same question," he said, "where have you been?"

"I needed time to think," Ali said, looking away for a moment. She helped Nico to the ground, eying up his leg worriedly.

"A whole week?"

" I don't need to explain myself to you," she snapped, crossing her wings and looking at the sunset.

"No, not really, but you can't blame me for worrying about you. I wanted to see you, to talk to you."

"If it's about-"

"Just shush a mo-"

"Don't shush m-"

"Just listen okay?" Nico said, cutting her off completely as he pressed his wing against her beak, effectively shutting her up for the moment, "look, I've been thinking over and over about what to say to you since I woke up, but I decided to just be blunt about this," he took a deep breath, dropping his wing and leaning against them both, "after the explosion, I don't really remember much, it's just a blur, but a few bits and pieces have stuck out," he looked at her when she turned her head away, noticing a faint blush under her feathers, "you said... you said you love me."

Ali sighed, "it was a heat of the moment thing."

"I don't believe you," Nico countered, his expression serious.

"I thought you were dead!" Ali snapped, glaring hard at the floor, "and besides, I don't believe in love," she sighed, "it's a stupid chemical in the brain, that's all, and it makes us do stupid things."

"You know that's not true," Nico said, leaning over to try and see her face, which was turned away, "love is a wonderful thing." Ali just rolled eyes. "Friends, family, it doesn't matter, don't you love Tia?"

"Well, yeah, she's my best friend, but that's different."

"It's a little different, but it's still love," Nico smiled when she turned back to him, despite the frown on her face.

"Just...just drop it okay, you don't know anything about me," she said, looking towards the horizon.

"I know plenty actually," Nico said, and Ali raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Your favourite fruit is Strawberry," Nico started, counting them off on his feathers, "you love Doctor Who, you used to watch it with your owner, your favourite thing to make is the little flowers because of the challenge it gives you, you like to dance, but never in public, and I'm fairly sure you've mentioned a love for musicals."

Ali stared at him, beak wide open in shock, "How?"

"I listen," Nico grinned. Ali scoffed, turning away.

"That doesn't change anything, I don't believe in love, not really, it's a silly thing."

"All you need is love," Nico started, then stopped, suddenly thinking of something, "_all you need is love," _he began to sing.

"What?" Ali turned, looking dumbstruck.

"_All you need is love," _he laughed at her expression, "_All you need is looove."_

"_Love is just a game," _Ali countered, smirking slightly to try and hide a smile and a laugh.

Nico stood, slightly wobbly, leaning on one of his crutches, grinning down at her, "_I was made for loving you baby, you were made for loving me."_

Ali scoffed, rolling her eyes, but Nico could see the hint of a smile, "in your dreams boy," she said, standing and taking a few steps away.

"_Just one night, give me just one night."_

Ali gave a mocking laugh, turning with her wings on her hips, "Sorry, are you not listening?"

"_In the name of love, one night in the name of love," _Nico just laughed, tipping his cap, and taking a few steps forward.

Ali sighed, "_you crazy fool, I won't give in to you,_" she sang back. Fight fire with fire and all that, she thought, rolling her eyes and turning to walk away.

"Don't!" Nico called suddenly, and she stopped, frozen, "_leave me this way," _he finished, watching hopefully as she turned her head towards him a little, "_I can't survive, without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way."_

There was silence for a few seconds, before Ali sighed, looking up at the sky. "_You'd think that people would've had enough of silly love songs," _She sung softly. Nico smiled, taking a few steps forward so he was right behind her, one wing ghosting over her waist, not quite touching, but close enough.

"_I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no," _he smiled as he turned to face him, so close he could feel her breath.

"_Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs."_ She was so close, their beaks almost touching.

"_And what's wrong with that, I'd like to know," _he continued, holding in the growl as she suddenly moved away, sashaying towards the ocean. Surely she must know what she did to him. "_Cause here I go," _he steeled himself for the pain as he picked up one of his crutches in his good foot, and took off, flying past her onto a rock further out, cut off from the main land, "_Again!" _He landed, slightly shakily, but steadied himself quickly, spreading his wings, grinning as he felt the cool ocean breeze, "_Love lifts us up where we belong," _he sang, much louder, belting it out to the world, laughing slightly as he heard Ali call something along the lines of 'What are you doing? You idiot!'. "_Where eagles fly, on a mountain high!"_

He wobbled a bit, but felt a pair of wings catch him, and he span around, leaning on her for support.

"_Love makes us act like we are fools, throw our lives away, for one happy day,"_ once he was steady, she walked away a bit, picking up one of his crutches and handing it over.

"_We could be heroes! Just for one day," _Nico took the support gratefully, leaning against it and taking a few limping steps towards her.

Ali sighed, turning away, "_you, you will be mean,"_ she sang, trying, and failing to find excuses.

Nico laughed, "No, I won't."

"_And I..." _she paused for a moment, trying to think, "_I'll drink all the time." _Nico just looked at her with an amused smile.

"_We should be lovers," _he sang, softer, walking closer to where she was standing, staring off into the sunset.

"_We can't do that_," Ali glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

Nico ignored her, smiling as he continued forward "_We should be lovers, and that's a fact."_

"_Though nothing," _she turned to face him, "_would keep us together." _Her expression was completely torn between submission and defiance, her eyes searching his as he reached her.

"_We could steal time..."_

Ali gave in, smiling as she joined in, "_just for one day."_

Nico grinned as he turned her around so they were both facing the sunset, wrapping his wings around her waist and leaning his chin on her shoulder.

"_We could be heroes, forever and ever," _they sang together, "_We could be heroes," _Ali spread her wings, smiling as she felt the breeze and the cool ocean spray, "_forever and ever," _Nico took her wing and slowly spun her around, taking a step around so they were face to face, "_We could be heroes..."_

"_Just because I..." _He held the note, just staring into her dark blue eyes, holding her close, "_will always love you."_

"_I..." _She wrapped her wings around his neck, closing her eyes.

"_Can't help loving..." _they sang together, leaning their foreheads together.

"_You," _Nico finished on his own, pulling her even closer with one wing, and cupping her cheek with the other, "I'll never hurt you," he whispered in her ear, feeling the smile growing on her beak.

"_How wonderful life is..." _she sung softly, nuzzling his beak with hers, staring into his eyes.

"_Now you're in the world," _they finished together, both smiling.

"Alright, so maybe you've convinced me," Ali breathed with a small smile, before closing the already small distance, pressing her beak on his in a gentle kiss. Nico responded happily, deepening the kiss, smiling a little into it.

Behind them the sun finally dropped below the horizon, leaving nothing but a pink-purple glow. But neither birds noticed, far too immersed in each other to even care.

* * *

><p>When Ali woke the next morning, the first thing she thought was that her pillow was moving. Not much, but she could feel it moving up and down slightly, and there was definitely something wrapped around her body. Something warm. The canary didn't particularly want to open her eyes, but she knew, somewhere at the back of her mind, that she had to if she was going to work out just what she was using as a pillow.<p>

With a tired groan, she cracked one eye open a small amount, seeing sunlight streaming in through the nearby window, and yellow. Just a lot of yellow.

Last night's events came rushing back all at once, and it was all she could do to keep from sitting up in shock, instead blushing furiously and burying her face in Nico's chest to hide the growing smile on her beak.

They had stayed out until it was completely dark. Just talking, sitting in each other's embrace. Nico could barely contain himself, smiling the whole evening, not once letting her go, constantly giving her little pecks and kisses, which she mock-grudgingly allowed, trying not to grin every time.

After a hour or so, they reluctantly headed back to the sanctuary, not wanting to keep Hong-Xian out for too long. It was silent when they got back, everyone was asleep, or not around, and they headed for Nico's nest as quietly as they could, trying not to wake anyone. Especially those who were originally against Nico leaving to go find her. Ali was going to leave him there, once he was settled, and go and sleep in her own bed, but he pulled her down into his wings with a grin.

And with one last kiss goodnight, they drifted off to sleep, happy.

Ali shifted a little, pushing up so she could see his peacefully sleeping face. Thankfully, he was a heavy sleeper, and so a tiny movement such as this did nothing to wake him. She couldn't help but grin though as he let out a tiny moan, turned on his side and tried to pull her back down in his sleep. She complied, wiggling up a bit so they were face to face, beaks almost touching. He unconsciously tightened his wings around her, making her giggle silently.

She gave him a tiny peck on the beak, stroking the pale feathers on his chest, trying not to wake him. He looked so calm, so peaceful, she didn't have the heart to wake him up.

Maybe if she did it gently.

She smirked slightly as an idea hit.

Leaning up, she gently brushed her beak against his cheek, then began leaving a trail little butterfly kisses down his face and neck. When nothing happened, not even a flutter of eyelids, she sighed, trying to hold back a grin as she pressed her beak against his, a bit more forcefully than before.

"Hmmm."

She pulled back as he began to show signs of waking, a small smile appearing on his beak as his eyes cracked open a little.

"I could definitely get used to that," he murmured, kissing her softly. Ali just grinned in return, snuggling in closer.

"Well."

Another voice broke them both out of their little world and crashing back to reality with a thud. Two heads snapped up, wide eyes narrowing dangerously when they saw Tia standing over them, wings crossed and a very suggestive smirk on her beak.

"I see you two had fun last night," the tanager commented, raising her eyebrows as her smirk grew.

Ali held in a growl, trying as hard as she could to keep her expression completely neutral as she turned to her boyfriend (_Boyfriend! She still couldn't quite believe it)_ and pecked him lightly on the cheek.

"Give me one minute," she told him, before reluctantly leaving his hold, climbing out of the nest with a deadly glare aimed at her friend, who was beginning to look a little nervous, taking a few steps backwards. "You," she snapped, jabbing a feather at the scared looking girl, "have no concept of 'personal space' do you?" she growled, marching forward.

Behind her, it was all Nico could do to keep the laughs at bay as Tia took off, Ali following at a fast pace, chasing her round the room, yelling something so fast it was completely unintelligible. When groans from tired birds around the room began to sound, it was damn near impossible to hold in his laughter.

It took a good five minutes for Ali to be satisfied in the knowledge that Tia had learned her lesson, the tanager hiding behind Pedro, who was looking very confused at such events so early in the morning.

Once Ali had worn herself out telling her friend off, she flew back to Nico, who was staring at her with wide eyes and an impressed smile as she landed in front of his nest.

"What?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Nico shook his head, smiling as he held out a wing in invitation for her to once again join him, "nothing, just remind me to never get on your bad side," he said, grinning as she crawled back into the nest and snuggled into his side, leaning her head against his shoulder, "it's sexy as hell when you do it to others, but I do not want to be on the receiving end." This comment earned him a glance and a raised eyebrow, then what can only be described as an evil, pure evil, smirk.

"Everything okay in here?" the voice of Rafael floated through the room, the toucan himself arriving through the window seconds later. Nico stiffened, glancing at Tia across the room and catching her eye. There was a moment where they had a connection, as if she could read his thoughts, and she nodded, giving him the thumbs up. Just as he was about to relax however, she suddenly looked doubtful, turned to Miyoko, who was chatting to Tony, gave her a questioning look, to which she just smiled and nodded. Tia then turned back to Nico, grinning and gave him another thumbs up, Miyoko doing the same, winking.

"Did you three just manage to have a silent conversation there?" Pedro asked, looking completely dumbstruck between the three birds.

They all turned to him, looking completely smug. "Yes," they said, somehow completely in unison. Pedro, and some of the others, just stared, completely stunned.

"What?" Rafael, looking more confused than surprised, asked, looking between them all. Absolute silence met his question, Nico, Tia and Miyoko trying to keep their expressions neutral about the former's little sneak out the night before, the others still a little taken aback, just as confused about what was going on as Rafael. Ali just didn't care, her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling on Nico gently stroking the feathers on her head.

Met with blank stares, Rafael just shook his head. "Anyway, I'm taking the family down to the beach, along with the macaws, anyone want to come with?"

"Now you're just being mean," Nico pouted. Rafael sighed, smiling as he shook his head.

"I'm sure one outing won't hurt," he said, smirking slightly as he took in the way Ali was curled into his side, his wings around her. Nico smiled, waiting for him to turn away before catching Tia's eye, expression annoyed. She returned with a look of pure amusement.

"You're doing it again," he heard Pedro tell her, to which they both just snickered.

* * *

><p>Which was how he found himself an hour later lying in the sun on a small stretch of beach, listening, and completely ignoring the kids and twins gushing over the cast on his leg, just waiting for Eva to shoo them away.<p>

Which thankfully, she did. Just in time too. Any longer and he would've snapped.

"So, you and Ali huh?" A familiar voice asked, and he felt another body sit down next to his. He cracked one eye open, seeing Tony sitting next to him.

"Yup," he replied simply, closing his eyes again and just enjoying the sun. Ali was not a subject he particularly wanted to talk about with Tony, since he was the 'ex' after all. It had to be done eventually, but he was certainly not looking forward to it. "Are you okay with this?"

Tony chuckled, flicking him in the head, making the younger open his eyes to look at him. "Of course it is, idiot. It was a long time ago, and I am way over her."

The way he said it, and the sudden dreamy look in his eyes made Nico sit up, looking at him suspiciously. He leant forward to get a good look at his brother's face, before following his line of sight, leaning closer to get a better perspective.

"Miyoko?" he asked, completely stunned when he realised who he was staring at, "really?"

Tony started, as if being woken suddenly, snapping his head to his brother, whose gaze was darting between the pair, a amused smirk playing on his beak. "H-how? Wha-" he sputtered, completely shocked.

"I'm more observant than people give me credit for," Nico grinned, leaning back on his wings, watching as Miyoko, Tia and Pedro started a water fight with the kids. They were severely outnumbered and were losing quite spectacularly.

"No kidding," Tony said, blinking as he too turned to the, well, it wasn't really a fight anymore, more along the lines of a massacre, "not even Tia's worked it out yet."

Nico snorted, holding in laughter, "yeah well, Tia," he said through silent chuckles, "I believe, is going through her own..." he trailed off, trying to think of the right way to word it, "'romance' issues right now."

"What?" Tony actually spun his whole body round to face Nico, who was still silently laughing, "since when? Who?"

"Surely you must have noticed her and Pedro?" Nico asked, laughing even harder at the completely dumbstruck expression on his brothers face, "I guess not, but it's actually quite obvious when you look at it. They practically," he paused, looking over to where the pair were having their own water fight, laughing and splashing around in the shallow waters. He smirked, cupping his wings around his beak, "shout it out to the world," he yelled at them. They pair stopped, looking over at the grinning canary, along with almost everyone else, very confused, the expression deepening when he just grinned even wider and waved.

Tony was in absolute hysterics at their expressions, and at Nico, who was doing his best to look completely innocent. He fell back to the sand, laughing hard, tears rolling down his face.

"They have no idea though," Nico continued once he had calmed down, "I feel like I should do something to push them in the right direction, but it's almost too funny to watch."

"Well, once it's official, I might have to have a word with him," he glanced at Nico, who was looking at him questioningly, "what, she's my little sister, it's kinda my job."

Nico shrugged, laying back on the sand, crossing his wings behind his head, "fair enough," he said, watching the small wisps of cloud in the sky drift past.

"So how did you work out about me and Miyoko?" Tony couldn't help but ask.

The younger bird grinned, "easy, she was pulling all the moves she put on me," he told him simply, refusing to go any further on the subject. When he had let Tony splutter and stumble over his words for a while, he continued, "don't worry, it was a brief thing in Tokyo, I didn't even see it until she kissed me right before I left. Neither of us felt anything then, she's a great girl, but she's not the one for me, same goes for her."

There was brief moment of silence, and Nico had to glance over to make sure he hadn't said anything he probably shouldn't have. But he shouldn't have worried, Tony had simply gone back into a daze, staring dreamily at the object of his affections. He decided not to mention that she did live in Tokyo, and that she would probably want to go back at some point. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

Having a leg in cast kinda sucked when at the beach. Actually, it sucked full stop. But that was besides the point. He couldn't go into the sea, and even sand castle building was limited due to the boundaries the cast was putting on movement.

But he made it through the day, enjoying the sun, and at some point throughout the day almost everyone came to talk to him and keep him company.

They got back to the sanctuary at around sunset, dropping those birds who were staying there for the time being, before going their separate ways, the toucans and macaws flying back to their own homes. Everyone quickly settled down for an early night, but Nico made sure to catch Tia just as they was heading to the small group that had gathered around the group of nests, talking, laughing and sharing stories.

He gestured for her to move out of hearing distance, before cupping his beak and whispering in her ear.

"I can't think of anyone better for him than you."

He said nothing more, simply hobbling off towards the group, leaving a completely shell-shocked tanager behind him, a thankful smile growing on her beak.

A push in the right direction, that was all that was needed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So there will be one more chapter. I had to split it up because it was simply becoming too long, and probably a bit confusing. The next half will be up in the next week or so, it's only half done, and since it's definitely the last one, I need to make sure all the kinks are worked out and most loose ends are tied up. I've also just realised this is the longest story I have ever written. And I honestly don't know where most of it has come from. I'm just thinking there's not a huge amount here, and then I look at the word count, and it's just like, 'whoa!'**

**I hope you enjoyed, this chapter was surprisingly hard for me to write, so any feedback would be appreciated :)**

**The song was 'Elephant Love Medley' from Moulin Rouge. I wanted to fit that in somewhere here the moment I heard it, it just had to happen.**

**Translations:**

**Vous faites avec brio: **You're doing brilliantly.

**J'ai pris deux measures: **I've only taken two steps.

**Eh bien, deux étapes c'est mieux que rien:** Well, two steps is better than nothing.

**estropié: **Cripple.

**J'ai un peu envie de vous impressionner si jamais je vous ai vu à nouveau:** I just wanted to impress you if I ever saw you again.

**Vraiment? Eh bien mon cherie, vous l'avez fait: **Really? Well my darling, you did.


	17. The Finale

**A/N: I try to avoid authors notes at the beginning, but what we have here is the last chapter! Yes, that's right. The last one. It's nearly over, completed, finished. So, I hope you all enjoy and be sure to read the final A/N at the bottom, lots of important things down there.**

* * *

><p>Ali was doing her upmost not to panic. She absolutely would not panic.<p>

Someone had to be calm around here.

"What is going on here?" The slightly flustered voice of Rafael sounded as the toucan landed next to her, "Pedro couldn't get any words out except 'get to the sanctuary'."

Ali looked up at him from where she was lying with Nico, the latter curled into her side, face buried in her neck, fast asleep. She had her wings wrapped around him, gently stroking his feathers soothingly. From behind her Tony opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"Don't even think about it Tony, you need to calm down," she said, glaring up at him, before turning back to Rafael, who had a panting Pedro land next to him, "I'm not entirely sure, he was fine last night, but when I woke up he was shivering, and has one hell of a fever. He needs a doctor but there's no one around."

Cosette appeared not seconds later, a damp cloth in her wing and Tulio close behind, the bird doctor muttering and fretting as he bent over the couple, a tiny thermometer in his hand.

"Now, now, what seems to be the problem?" He murmured, more to himself than the birds. Nico didn't respond in any other way than burying his face deeper into Ali's neck. The girl in question looked up at the doctor apologetically, which he somehow got, before pulling back a little, nudging the sleeping bird with her beak.

"Come on Nico," she whispered, trying to pull him away from her so the doctor could see what was wrong with him. It took a few minutes and Cosette's help to pull Nico away from her enough for Tulio to gently put the thermometer in his beak.

A few moments of tense quiet followed as they watched Tulio's expression grow grim, before he suddenly stooped down, ever so carefully scooping the tiny injured bird up with a murmured apology and strode into the back room, leaving the group of birds in stunned silence.

Pedro was the first to speak, his expression terrified, "that doesn't look good."

After that, everyone started talking at the same time, worry and concern in everyone's voices. There was a definite panic in the atmosphere, and Ali chewed on her lower beak, staring at the door Tulio had gone through, her wings suddenly feeling incredibly empty.

How? He was making such good progress with his recovery, and it had seemed like the worst was over. And now...

It was a minor setback, that was all, just a small infection, he'd be better by that evening. Of course he would.

But three hours later, and still no sign of Nico, even Ali began to show signs of worry. Blu and Jewel had arrived not long after, not knowing what was going on, but immediately offering help and words of comfort. When Linda appeared about half an hour later, Blu tried to find out what was going on from her, but she more or less ignored him, jogging through the room and into the back room where Nico was.

They heard yelling a few seconds later, and then Tulio was forcefully thrown from the room.

"I know you want to help," Linda told him, sticking her head out the door, "but all you are doing is stressing out, there's a mug of coffee in the lounge, drink it and calm down, then you can come back and help."

Tulio simply sat where he had fallen after tripping over his own feet, staring at the now slammed shut door in absolute shock. It took a few moments, the birds watching in total silence, but eventually he pushed himself up, running a shaky hand through his hair, before turning and heading for their 'lounge'. Or a relaxation room for birds and humans alike, including several sofas, a large flat screen Television, and a large pile of books, mainly about birds in one corner.

Ali wasted no time in following him, darting through the door before it could close in her face. She heard Tia try to stop her, but pulled back by Tony. Not that she would listen anyway, she had to find out what was going on.

Once inside, she found Tulio, who was sitting bent over, head in his hands. Ali gulped, suddenly incredibly nervous. She didn't know whether or not she actually wanted to hear this. But it had to be done, she simply could not wait any longer.

She landed on the coffee table in front of him, giving a small chirp to alert him of her presence.

The doctor's head snapped up, eyes wide and shock written clear over his face. This quickly morphed into a soft smile, though worry and stress still shone clear in his eyes, making Ali slightly distrustful.

"I guess you're worried about your little friend huh?" he said quietly, "it's just an infection, but it's had time to spread and get into his bloodstream without anyone even knowing," the doctor sighed, rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other taking the coffee mug and taking a long drink. "I wouldn't worry too much, it's easily treatable, but it can take a while."

Ali nodded, looking at the man suspiciously. There was something he wasn't saying.

But what?

Sensing she wasn't going to get anything more out of the frazzled doctor, she flew out of the room to relay the verdict, praying there was no more to it and she was simply imagining things.

They took the news rather well, considering, but Ali could not shake the feeling there was something else she hadn't seen, something that Tulio had failed to mention.

* * *

><p>If there was, it didn't matter anymore.<p>

Ali couldn't help but grin as she crawled into the nest Nico was sleeping peacefully in and laid down next to him. There was a drip attached to his wing, which she carefully avoided.

Ten minutes after she had flown back in earlier that day, Tulio emerged, looking far more awake and alert than when he had been kicked out. After that nothing was heard until sunset, around eight hours later. By this point, Rafael was looking rather twitchy, Pedro and Tony were pacing, Alistair and Marius were talking about meaningless subjects to distract themselves, Cosette, Tia and Miyoko (and sisters) had gone for a fly to calm themselves down, and Ali had taken to sitting on the railing outside, needing fresh air, but not wanting to go too far in case something happened.

But at around six that evening Tulio and Linda finally came out, thankfully smiling and carrying an unconscious canary, who they gently laid down and attached a drip to his wing.

The atmosphere was much calmer after that, knowing he was okay. Some were still a little on edge, particularly Tony and Tia, having seen it before, but overall everyone felt a great deal better, and by the time nightfall came, they were all ready to just fall into bed and go straight to sleep.

Ali waited until they were all fast asleep before climbing into the nest with Nico. She tried not to move him too much, simply curling into his side and taking his limp wing in both of hers.

"You just enjoy scaring us, don't you?" she murmured, staring at his peaceful face, "could you stop it please, I don't think my heart can take much more." She nuzzled him gently with her beak, laying one wing on his chest and just breathing in his scent.

She sighed when he made no movement, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly, curling up tighter against him and settling down to a well earned sleep.

* * *

><p>"Pedro?"<p>

The cardinal in question turned around at the sound of his name. Standing on the windowsill near where he was sitting on the railing was Tia, looking edgy and nervous. It was dark out, and the dim lights on the porch only did a little to illuminate

"You alright girl?" he asked, gesturing for her to join him, and she fluttered to his side, landing close, but with an obvious gap between them.

"I don't know," she muttered, sniffing slightly, "I thought everything was going to be okay, and then this happened and now I just don't know anymore," she choked, holding back tears. Pedro hesitantly shuffled closer, wrapping one wing around her shoulder, not exactly sure what else to do.

"It's okay now," he said, "he's fine, no damage done."

"I know, I know," Tia sniffed, wiping her eyes, "but it scares me every time, it's the second time it's happened, and the first wasn't too bad, we didn't know him then, it was only because of Tony's insistence he's even still alive, but now I've met him and grown to love him, the thought of losing him after he's been through so much is almost too much."

"Well," Pedro started, looking out into the trees, "we didn't lose him, he's stronger than he looks, he pulled through and that's what matters here."

Tia laughed a little, taking a deep breath, "I know, I'm just being silly, always focusing on the negative when I should be looking at the positive." Pedro nodded, silently agreeing with her. Quiet fell over them for a moment, before Pedro plucked up the courage to ask her a question that had been bugging him for days.

"Do...do you love him?" he asked, looking slightly nervous, especially when she drew away slightly to look at him, expression confused.

"What?" she asked, slightly taken aback.

"W-well," Pedro stuttered, wringing his wings together restlessly, "I mean, all the looks, the conversations, especially the silent ones, the pet names, do you love him?"

Tia looked at him like he was absolutely insane for a moment. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she snorted, doubling over with silent laughs, not wanting to wake anyone else up. It took a few seconds for her to calm down, but when she did, she turned to Pedro, who was looking completely bewildered, and shook her head, smiling wide.

"Okay, the pet names I can explain, I think all the girls do it to everyone, even Ali does it sometimes, though they're more insulting, but she means well, and I'm fairly sure with Cosette it's _just_ Nico, I haven't heard her call anyone else names like that."

Pedro nodded, understanding, but still looking confused.

"But back to the question though," Tia continued, looking up at the sky, "yes, I do, he's one of my best friends and I love the kid to pieces, but he's like my brother, and if you want to be really technical, he is." She almost laughed again when she turned back to Pedro, who was looking slightly relieved, but confused at the same time. "My family adopted Tony years ago, and since Nico's his little brother, that makes him my brother too. If that makes sense."

"I guess," the cardinal agreed, looking at the ground far below them, "so is there anyone you..." he trailed off, hoping she would get the hint and he wouldn't have to actually say it out loud.

"Like? Well," Tia said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye when he turned to look at her, "there is this one guy I've had my eye on," she gave a small smile and a what she hoped was a rather seductive look.

"Really?"

Tia nodded, rolling her eyes, "yeah, really great guy who lives not that far away, and in such a short amount of time he's shown me that he's sweet, caring, has a brilliant sense of humour, and is a great performer. I wouldn't mind getting to know him more though, I feel there's so much more to him." She desperately tried to hide the grin at Pedro's slightly dejected expression.

"Well, I hope you two-"

He never finished the sentence though. Suddenly Tia's wing was around the back of his head, and her beak was on his. It only lasted a few seconds, Pedro in too much shock to actually do anything, but Tia was smiling when she pulled back.

"Hmm, Nico was right, you are an idiot when it comes to romance," she said, giving a small giggle, pecking him lightly on the beak before standing and fluttering back to the windowsill.

"Wait!" Pedro called, making her stop. Tia smiled, looking over her shoulder.

"I'll see you in the morning Pedro," she said, grinning as she spread her wings and glided down into the dark room.

* * *

><p>"Don't. You. Dare."<p>

Joe and Josh froze at the icy voice, the small bucket they held between them swinging slightly and sloshing what looked and smelled a lot like fruit juice all over the floor. Trying to look as innocent as possible, the twins looked behind them, wincing at the deadly glare Nico was giving them. They glanced back at their original target, a snoring red-crested cardinal, then back at the furious canary.

"Um..." they started, grinning nervously, "drink?"

Nico growled low, rubbing his temple, then sighed, indicating for them to step away from the sleeping bird and towards him.

"Look, I know you two like to find creative ways to wake people up, but I'm starting to think you're taking it too far now," he told them, like a parent would tell their kids off, "now put the bucket down, go outside and honestly? Out there you can cause as much havoc as you like," he smirked, nodding towards the window, "just not in here, please, not in here."

"Really?" Joe, (or was it Josh?) asked, perking up.

"Awesome!" they cheered, high-fiving each other, wide grins on their beaks.

"One question though," one of them started, turning to the canary.

"How come you're even awake?"

"You're like the devil if you haven't had enough sleep."

"And it's like, half five in the morning."

Nico rolled his eyes and sighed, "my sleeping pattern's messed up," he explained, leaning heavily on one crutch, "Time differences and unconsciousness, it screws with your mind," he shrugged, glancing outside to the rising sun.

The twins looked at each other for a moment, before taking off, leaving the bucket full of juice just sitting on the table in front of Nico. The canary looked at it for a moment, then up at Pedro, it's original victim. He glanced between them for a moment, like he was watching a tennis match.

With a violent shake of his head, he turned and hobbled towards his bed, silently berating himself for even thinking about it. He sat down on the edge, watching Ali peacefully sleeping, her breathing deep and even, expression for once completely serene.

He half-heartedly glanced back at the bucket. He didn't really have any reason to do it. He was his best friend after all, and he'd looked after him so well after the explosion. And over the six months he had been gone, the cardinal had been one of the few birds that had always believed in him, he had so much faith in him.

He couldn't do it.

Then again...

* * *

><p>The shriek that echoed around the room that morning was one that would be talked about for many years to come, and would inevitably end up as the stuff of legend for future generations.<p>

"Dude! What the hell?"

Nico was doing all he could to hold in the laughter, instead grinning as he bent over his old friend, who was trying to glare up at him through splutters and coughs.

Nico had been a little nicer, he had switched the contents of the bucket to plain water, and waited an hour or two so it was decent time in the morning (he was going to wait a bit longer, but no one else was up, and he was bored), but either way, it was quite possibly the funniest thing he had seen since arriving back in Rio, and he was definitely going to be laughing about it later. Just not now. Now he had to keep a somewhat straight face.

"A little birdie told me you've been hiding things," Nico smirked, watching with amusement as Pedro's expression went from annoyed to 'oh crap'. The canary briefly glanced around the room, seeing Tia and Ali looking at each other, both sleepy, but both looking as if they were about to burst out laughing. Everyone else was looking bleary and confused, though several, namely Cosette, Miyoko and Alistair had amused smiles growing on their beaks.

"Really?" Pedro was looking a little scared at this point as he sat up and turned to face the evilly grinning canary, the empty bucket still swinging in one of his wings.

"Yup," Nico nodded, "now, anything you want to tell me, maybe something that happened while I was unconscious?" he asked, finding it even harder not to laugh when he could hear Ali and Tia quietly snickering away close by.

Pedro couldn't help but glance at Tia, who was grinning wide and giggling behind her wing, a movement that did not go unnoticed by Nico. He snorted with laughter, giving in to the urge and doubling over, dropping the bucket. It only took a few seconds, but he managed to cap it, taking deep breaths and standing up straight. Once he got a hold of his breathing, he leant over, whispering in his friends ear.

"Good on ya, glad to see I'm not the only one getting the girl," he said, then stood up, grinning wide at the shocked expression on Pedro's face, "just, next time, tell me first, I don't want to hear it from someone else," he scolded, still smiling to show he wasn't being completely serious.

Pedro just nodded dumbly, still staring wide-eyed at the madly grinning canary as he hobbled off towards Ali. Tia flew over a few moments later with a small towel and very few words of comfort.

"You have to admit, you had that one coming, it has been nearly five days," she commented, patting his feathers dry with the towel, "though I wasn't expecting the water, I think he's been hanging out with the Twins too much." Pedro nodded in agreement, watching as Nico got pulled down into the plush nest by Ali, both of them laughing. "And maybe Ali," Tia couldn't help but add, following his line of sight.

"I guess," Pedro said, rolling his eyes, "I just didn't really know how to tell him."

Tia gave a small laughed, "honestly I wouldn't have worried," she told him, folding the towel and placing it on the floor, "I think he knew about us before we did."

"Really?" He asked, looking over at Nico, a little stunned, "that's...impressive."

There was a moment of silence as they watched Ali try to get up, unable to because of Nico's wings around her waist. She half-heartedly tried to pry them off, trying to wiggle out of his grasp, before giving up with a mock-glare and falling back, right on top of him, eliciting a small yelp. Tia gave a small laugh, "don't tell him that though, he doesn't need a ego on top of that." She gave him a small peck on the cheek, before fluttering back to her own nest to tidy it up a little.

It was another one of those lazy days. For the next few hours, after being woken quite rudely by Pedro's rather un-masculine scream, most of the birds in the small private room they had been given just hung about, chatting between themselves, or even going back to sleep. At one point the twins came back, the mischievous smiles on their faces far too suspicious and Nico was forced to kick them out once more before they caused chaos once more.

"Hey everyone," Cosette, flanked by Marius and Alistair, flew in several hours later, around midday, "we 'ave something we need to say."

The group looked up, and Nico could help the way his heart jumped into his throat at the solemn look on their faces. He knew what was coming, he knew it was always going to come. But that didn't mean he particularly wanted it to.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We've been talking, and it's about time we 'eaded home," the sparrow said, swallowing thickly at the look of shock on a few faces, and tears nearly sprang to her eyes at the look of heartbreaking acceptance mixed with deep sadness on Nico's face, "we've been here for nearly three weeks now, and as much as we'd love to stay forever, Alistair has an owner, and we've got a life in Paris, with our own friends and family."

There was a deep sigh from the corner of the room, and Miyoko spoke up.

"Actually, it's probably time for us to head back too," she said, trying very hard not to look at the look of distress on Tony's face, instead looking to Hong-Xian, who simply nodded in agreement.

There was definitely a sombre atmosphere in the room after these announcements, Tia went over to talk to Miyoko, and Nico to comfort Tony. Ali and Pedro sat on their own for a while, before going to join their respective best friends. Cosette very much looked like she wanted to go and talk to Nico (Actually, if you asked Marius, he would say she looked like she just wanted to scoop him up and take him home), but she held off, knowing the brothers needed some time alone, choosing instead to sit and talk about the plans for getting home with Marius and Alistair, Hong-Xian joining them not long after.

About half an hour later though, Tia lifted her head from the little group of girls, calling Pedro and Tony over, quickly whispering something to them both before sending Pedro back to Nico, who was looking incredibly confused at the sudden secrecy. The three European birds and Hong-Xian were then called over and they formed a huddle, talking in hushed voices while Pedro tried to distract Nico.

The little canary tried as hard as he could to find out what was going on, but his injury was preventing him from getting very far without a smirking Pedro pulling him back. And when Rafael arrived about twenty minutes later he was instantly drawn into the group and given strict instructions to take the curious canary back to his own Hollow to see the family and to not breathe a word about their forming plan. Someone would be over later to give him the details.

And with that, the plan began to take shape.

* * *

><p>"As much as I'm happy to be here, why?"<p>

Rafael laughed, helping Nico climb carefully off his back, the smaller bird pouting, no one telling him anything about what was going on and why. He looked towards the entrance of the newly reopened Alley, hearing the familiar samba beat drifting from the partially pulled back curtain that served as a front door.

"I told you, you'll see," Rafael told him, slowly leading the injured bird inside, both steadily ignoring the way many of the birds stopped and stared, surprised at seeing the once missing canary back in Rio. As much as he wanted to scream it to the world, Rafael kept the news to close friends and family until the worst of Nico's recovery was over, and while the news did still leak out, very few birds actually believed it.

"Hey! You made it!" Pedro fluttered over, grinning madly and looking more energetic than he had in weeks.

"Yes, we made it," Nico said, looking confused at his friends over-excited demeanour, "question is though, what have we made it for?"

"Ignore him," Rafael cut in, laughing, "he's been asking all afternoon and evening. Doesn't seem to understand the concept of a 'surprise'."

Nico glared up at him, but the music fading and the pelican that owned the club coming onto the stage made his argument die in his throat.

"May I have your attention please," the tall bird called, and the club fell silent, all birds turning to the stage, "this next performance is by a group of birds we have never seen before, so we can certainly expect something new, but before they sing, they have something to say."

When he stepped aside, Nico felt his breath catch in his throat. Standing in a line, all grinning wide, a little anxious, was everyone he had been missing all afternoon, including the twins, which they must have found after he left. Rafael gently picked him up and put him on a box close by for a better view; his height wasn't exactly ideal.

"Um, hi," Tia started, stepping forward, a nervous grin plastered on her face, "I'm sure most of you know by now, but there's a certain canary in the room who has recently been on one hell of a journey. A full trip around the world, literally," she gave a little laugh as murmurs swept the room, which Nico ignored, keeping his eyes on the group on the stage, "well, all of us here? At one point or another, we all helped him take another step closer to home."

Cosette stepped forward next, smiling as she caught Nico's eye, "but what he probably doesn't realise, is although we all helped him, whether physically or emotionally, he's also done the same for us. We've all learnt something special from him."

Nico had tears in his eyes by this point, and he found it harder and harder to keep his emotions under wrap in such a crowded place as they began to list things off, one by one, bird by bird.

"Determination," Alistair said, nodding in his direction.

"Bravery," Marius and Cosette said together, glancing at each other then at him.

The twins looked at each other before saying in complete unison, "self-control." Nico couldn't help but laugh.

"Friendship," Hong-Xian said, bowing.

"Music is always the answer," Miyoko said next, laughing a little.

"Pure willpower," Tia said, winking.

"Family," Tony grinned.

And finally Ali stepped forward, a small smile on her face. "And love," she said, nodding, "Nico, this one's for you, one of the bravest birds we have ever met."

"_So no one told you life was gonna be this way_," Tony was the first to start singing, dancing forward with a wide grin, "_Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A_."

Ali gave him a subtle shove at that line, Tia taking the next set of lyrics with laugh and a small dance, "_It's like you're always stuck in second gear, well it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but..._"

"_I'll be there for you_," the whole group stepped forward, singing together, wings around each other.

"_When the rain starts to fall,"_ Cosette and Marius sang underneath.

"_I'll be there for you."_

"_Like I've been there before."_

"_I'll be there for you, 'Cause you're there for me too." _

They broke off, all taking a step back save Miyoko, who sang the next verse while the others danced behind her, completely freestyle, making some of the crowd laugh.

"_You're still in bed at ten, and work began at eight. You've burned your breakfast, so far things are goin' great."_ She laughed as Tony took her wing, twirling her around and to the side of the stage, letting Cosette take centre so she could sing the next part.

"_Your mother warned you there'd be days like these. Oh, but she didn't tell you when the world would drop you down on your knees that..."_

"_I'll be there for you," _Once again, the whole group sang, still dancing their own little dances, either on their own or with a partner, each looking like they were having the time of their lives.

"_When the rain starts to fall,"_ the twins sang this time, for once neither looking as if they were up to something.

"_I'll be there for you."_

"_Like I've been there before."_

"_I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too."_

Ali was next to take centre stage, and the voice that came out when she opened her mouth almost bowled Nico over. "_No one could ever know me_," for someone who didn't like to sing, she was amazing, and Nico couldn't help but grin even wider, watching her intently and listening to the lyrics, "_No one could ever see me. Seems you're the only one who knows, what it's like to be me. Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with. Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst I'm best with you, yeah!"_

Nico simply could not stop grinning, bobbing his head to the beat, laughing at some of the rather amusing dances some of them were coming up with. He couldn't believe they were doing this. All for him. But he wasn't dreaming, this much he was sure of.

Tony stepped up next to Ali, and they looked at each other for a second, a bit disdainfully, but put their wings around each other none-the-less, albeit reluctantly and sang together. Nico laughed at the little glances and glares they kept giving each other, guessing they must be trying to put their differences aside, if only because they were both close to Nico, and therefore would have to spend a lot more time around each other.

"_It's like you're always stuck in second gear, well it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but..._"

The speed with which they let go of each other was phenomenal, Tony immediately moving to dance with Miyoko, and Ali with Tia and Cosette.

"_I'll be there for you_."

"_When the rain starts to fall."_

"_I'll be there for you."_

"_Like I've been there before."_

"_I'll be there for you, 'Cause you're there for me too."_

As one, they moved to stand in a row, wings around each other, grinning wide at the slightly teary, proudly smiling canary.

"_I'll be there for you,"_ Alistair, Marius, Cosette and the twins sang, the latter striking a pose, breaking the line slightly and making the crowd laugh.

"_I'll be there for you,"_ then Miyoko and family and Hong-Xian continued, the tall crane bending his long neck to be included in the line.

"_I'll be there for you,"_ finally Tia, Tony and Ali finished off, the three of them putting their heads together, pointing at themselves then at Nico, who laughed, smiling so wide he felt like his face was about to split in two.

Then, finally, they all sang together as one, _"'cause you're there for me too!"_

The music died, but the cheers did not. And they continued applauding, whooping and wolf-whistling the group even as Nico fluttered, with great difficulty, to the stage, the twins catching him as he tried to land but lost his balance. He went to hug them all individually, but ended up in a huge group hug, almost getting squashed in the middle. He ignored the sharp stab of pain shooting up his leg, knowing he would pay for it later, but simply not caring. This chance, all of them together, would probably not come again.

Everyone was going home tomorrow, at the very least the day after.

He was going to make this night the best he'd ever had.

"Hey! Pedro!" he shouted over the din, the cardinal in question looking over with an eyebrow raised. Nico cocked his head, indicating for him to join him on the stage.

"You know how I said I wanted to make an entrance?" he asked once the larger bird had landed, "well, this is it." He glanced at Rafael, who reluctantly nodded, his expression saying everything; 'be careful.' Nico nodded, grinning as he took a few steps forward.

"Dance the night away?" Pedro asked behind him, and he nodded, matching his best friends smirk as he turned to the crowd, holding up one fisted wing.

"_Come everybody!" _he had to really belt out his voice to be heard above the crowd, and the cheers died a little once they realised he had begun singing, "_we're gonna party! Let's see your hands up, dance to the music, we gonna party!"_

The crowd went wild, and Pedro found it somewhat difficult to be heard above the screams and cheers, taking off and flying round the room as he rapped.

"_Let's dance, let's throw them up, everybody get down and move it up. Let's dance, let's throw them up, everybody get down and move it up, we gonna party!"_ Nico joined him on the last line, managing to pull off a decent dance without actually moving his feet, launching himself into the verse.

"_DJ come one spin it back, turn up the beat download the track, it's a weekend anthem sing it back, don't hold up, no don't stop. We're about to take you to the top, if you had a hard week, keep your head up, I've got you, you've got me, come and join a wonderful family! Now Dance!"_

Pedro landed next to him and the friends leant against each other, one wing in the air.

"_Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away!"_

"_Come everybody!" _Nico sang, Pedro echoing the lyrics, "_We're gonna party! Let's see your hands up, dance to the music, we gonna party!"_

"_Let me see you get up, get up on the floor," _Tia's strong voice belting out what was meant to be his lyrics to the crowd shocked Nico a little, but as she continued, he realised she actually sounded better than he did when they were practicing over the past week. "_Sing it back sing it loud, let everybody know, feels good with you, we gotta let it show, so put your hands up, hands up."_

"_Yo DJ come on spin it back!" _Pedro rapped, punching the air.

"_Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away," _the Duo sang together once more, Pedro break-dancing up a storm, while Nico just did what he could, trying not to laugh through his singing. "_Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away!"_

"_Come everybody! We gonna party! Let's see your hands up, dance to the music, we gonna party!"_

"_Let's dance, let's throw them up, everybody get down and move it up. Let's dance, let's throw them up, everybody get down and move it up. Let's dance, let's throw them up, everybody get down and move them up, we gonna party! We gonna party! We gonna Party!"_

"_Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away."_

"_Come everybody!" _Nico threw his wings up, bobbing his head to the beat, singing over the top of Pedro.

"_Gonna dance this night away."_

"_We're gonna Party!"_

"_Gonna dance this night away," _Pedro landed next to the canary and they sang together once more, letting the injured bird lean against him, "_Gonna dance this night away, Gonna dance this night away!"_

The cheers were deafening, and Nico couldn't help but think about how much he had missed it all as he bowed, waving to the enthusiastic crowd. The whole atmosphere, the lights, the music, the dancing, all his friends together in one place. There was nothing else like it.

Nothing could beat this.

* * *

><p>Oh, how he was paying for it.<p>

Then again, as he blearily cracked his eyes open the next morning, it looked as if they were all paying for it.

Everyone was still asleep, for once he was the first awake, but what made him laugh, even over the dull throb of pain constantly shooting through his leg, was the positions they had fallen asleep in. Ali, as usual, was curled into his side, his wing around her, and one foot propped up on a mass of pillows. His other wing however, was being used as a makeshift teddy-bear by Tia, who had her feet propped up on Pedro and her head resting on Tony's stomach, who was sprawled out, Miyoko using one of his wings as a pillow. Her sisters were curled up together around Hong-Xian's foot, who had fallen asleep standing, as per usual, with his beak tucked in under his wing close by. Cosette was sensible, having settled down in a nearby nest, however Marius, who looked like he had started in the same way next to her, had obviously fidgeted too much in the night and was now lying spread-eagled with his feet up on the edge of the nest. Alistair was sleeping normally, but he seemed to have made two friends in the night, the twins curled up next to him, one on either side.

Nico half wanted to go back to sleep, but he could feel Ali stirring slightly by his side, and looked down to see her blinking groggily up at him, yawning widely. She gave a small smile, which he returned, before nuzzling closer, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.

Nico lifted his head and looked around once more, committing the picture to memory. As much as he would love to see their reactions when waking, the canary had much more important things to be getting on with.

He gently eased his wing out of Tia's tight grasp, trying not to wake the girl. Once released, he turned ever so slightly, using his free wing to pull Ali closer, before closing his eyes, drifting back into a blissful sleep.

* * *

><p>"Juste quelques jours de plus?"<p>

"No."

"Jolie s'il vous plait?"

"Nico, No," Cosette couldn't help but laugh, pushing the pleading canary's face away and closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at the downright pitiful expression on his face. "Tu sais que je veux rester avec vous, mais je dois rentrer à la maison."

Nico grinned, though there was a definite sadness in his eyes as they all said goodbye. The time had come. The twins had hunted down the airport, and double checked each plane and where it was going. They were headed home.

"I'm really going to miss you," Nico said as Cosette drew him into a bone crushing hug.

"I'm going to miss you too darling," the sparrow replied, not particularly wanting to let go of the bird she had grown to love as if he was her own son, "we'll come visit, and you better too at some point, Paris is beautiful in the summer. But remember what I told you, you need me at any time, whatever the reason, just call okay? I'll come straight over. Screw the distance."

The canary nodded, sniffing slightly as they pulled apart.

"Now, stop with that gloomy expression and smile for me okay? I'm hardly never going to see you again, I love you too much for that to ever happen," she laughed at the look of shock that passed over his face, "keep in touch," she told him and he nodded. Alistair and Marius were calling her over, the plane almost ready to leave.

"Have a safe trip," Nico whispered as they pair quickly hugged, "love you too."

Cosette was grinning when she pulled away, kissing him softly on the forehead.

"See you soon," she said, before taking off and soaring towards the plane that would (hopefully) take her home.

"Bye," Nico whispered, watching as she flew into the luggage compartment and out of sight. He took a deep breath, swallowing thickly. It was fine. He would see them again. Nothing was forever.

However, as much as he was accepting everything, it seems his brother was having a harder time with it all.

"Tony please don't do this," Miyoko said, looking very much like she was about to burst into tears, but trying as hard as she could to stay strong, "I have a family, a life, the club. Everything I have is in Tokyo, I can't just up and leave it like you."

"Then I'll come with you."

Nico raised his eyebrows, fluttering over to stand with Pedro, Tia and Ali, the latter holding out a wing and allowing herself to become a support for the unbalanced canary.

"What? And leave Nico?" Miyoko asked, looking completely unimpressed, "yeah, I don't think so, that kid needs all the help he can get."

He resisted the urge to throw something.

"Then...then..." Tony looked desperate, he was running out of options fast. But Miyoko didn't give him any more time to think about it, pressing her beak on his in a heated kiss. He responded almost immediately, not wanting to waste any of the small amount of time he had left with her.

"Talk to Martin," she said as she pulled him into a tight hug, "we can still talk, but I don't think I can do a proper long distance relationship. I'm sorry Tony, you deserve so much better."

The canary didn't say anything, instead choosing to hug her tightly, before reluctantly letting her go, watching with sad eyes as she flew off to join her family. He turned around and wandered dejectedly back to the small group that was left, Tia drawing him into a sympathetic hug.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," she said, stroking his feathers soothingly, "it just wasn't meant to be."

Nico watched, suddenly aware of how much he had to be thankful for, how happy he was that Ali had chosen to stay in Rio with him. Goodness knows what he would've done if she had left him.

"Oi! Nico!" Miyoko's loud voice sounded moments later, "get over here! I haven't said goodbye to you yet!"

Nico rolled his eyes, detaching himself from Ali and fluttering over, slightly annoyed that he had to go to her and not the other way round as the four of them all rushed forward to catch him as he lost his balance upon landing. Miyoko instantly pulled him in for a hug. But what she said next wasn't goodbye, not even close.

"Hold him off for a month okay?"

"What?" Nico tried to draw away, but she kept him close so she could whisper in his ear.

"I'm heading home to see my family for a bit and hand the club over to Momo. After that I'm headed straight back."

Nico tried to hold in the grin, guessing this was to be kept a secret from Tony. The little sneak.

"I talked to Martin, I'm gonna help him run the club here," she pulled back, winking, "Including exclusive memberships for all of you lot."

"So what was that back there?" he had to ask.

"I just want to see the look on his face," Miyoko laughed, "and truth is, I think I'm falling in love with the guy," she admitted, smiling shyly, "what can I say? He's-"

"Yeah, I get it," Nico said shaking his head, knowing exactly what was coming next. Her and Tia were on the same wavelength after all, "you better get going, or that plane will leave without you and you get Tony's pleading all over again."

"Yeah, got it," the colourful bird said, giving a quick salute and a wink, "I'll see you soon yeah?"

"You know it," Nico grinned in return, waving as she flew off with her family towards to plane.

Now, how to keep Tony occupied for the next month?

* * *

><p>Home.<p>

There's always been something special about that word. It's so simple, yet it means so much. To some, it's just a building, a room, a place to store one's personal belongings and a place to sleep at night. For others, it's a place of comfort, refuge and security, somewhere they can feel safe. And for some people, it's where the heart is. Wherever the ones you love are, that's where home is. It doesn't matter if it's a glorious mansion of luxury or a cardboard box on the corner of the street, a huge city or the middle of nowhere. If the people you love are there, it doesn't matter.

"Well done on getting this place," Ali murmured, staring at the ceiling, simply enjoying the feeling of relaxing in Nico's wings, not a care in the world. It had been just over six weeks since the explosion, and three since everyone else had left to go home. His cast had come off two days ago, and while he was still extremely limited on movement, especially without the support of the solid cast, everyday matters were becoming easier and easier for the recovering bird.

Nico could help but laugh, "yeah, Pedro was never going to win that singing contest to get it. He's never won against me in the past, I don't know what he was thinking challenging me."

"Not that I'm complaining," Ali grinned, looking up at him, "so, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Nothing," he replied, "I don't really feel like doing anything at all."

No one did. It had been one of those incredibly hot days, more so than usual, and everyone had spent the day at their usual spot at the beach, just chilling, playing in the water, or in Nico and Pedro's case, trying to build the biggest sandcastle they possibly could. Everyone had come along, including all of Rafael's kids, even the ones who had left home already. It was a crazy day and all anyone wanted to do at the end of it was sit in a cool shady spot and fall asleep.

"Mmm, I don't really feel like doing anything either," Ali agreed, sighing happily as she stretched out. She flipped onto her stomach, resting her chin on her wings as a wicked smirk grew on her beak. "Well, except maybe you."

Yep.

There really was no place like home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's it. It's over...wow...it's over *tears up* What am I going to do with my life now! . . . . . Oh, that's right...the sequel :) Of which I have a summary of at the bottom of this authors note. **

**Songs:**

**I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts (Or in other words, that theme from Friends :P)**

**Dance the Night Away - LZ7 (I would really encourage you to go back and read the scene while listening)**

**Translations:**

**Juste quelques jours de plus: **Just a few more days?

**Jolie s'il vous plait: **Pretty Please?

**Tu sais que je veux rester avec vous, mais je dois rentrer à la maison: **You know I want to stay with you, but I have to go home.

* * *

><p><strong>I just want to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you fabulous people who have reviewed:<strong>

**EmmerzK, Juliet116, ILOVENICO1000x, Wolfsalvo, Qille, Niah09, Witch08, H8rofToast8899, Living in the Sunlight, HappySunSad, FanofRio, VioletAssassin, DimitriTheSovietSpixMacaw (I think this is everyone, please say if I missed anyone out ;))**

**You people are absolutely amazing, and I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for you (well, actually, I probably would be, but I wouldn't be happy about it :P)**

**This is, hands down, one of the longest and hardest stories I've ever had to write, and although that was mainly my fault (and the characters for not following the plan) I had a brilliant time writing it, and I hope you felt the same while reading it. I have a basic plot for the sequel, but I need to flesh it out and work out quite a lot of details before I even start to think about writing it. But I can give you a preview: (Warning: this may not be the final storyline, it's still in it's early stages and things are always prone to change)**

_One of the biggest music competitions has finally come to Rio, and approaching fast. Nico and Pedro are trying to prepare, but between relationship issues, revenge seeking birds and old friends it's turning out to be a lot harder than it should be. With personal lives getting in the way of professional lives, can they beat all odds and win one of the biggest competitions of the year?_

**Coming soon!**

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to be back very, very soon :)**

***Angel***


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